The Butler and the Maid
by mrsmiawallace88
Summary: Annie is a normal girl growing up in London. Just as she turned eighteen she was sent away from home for a while. She works and lives on the Phantomhive manor which makes her curiousity grow even more. What secrets are the Master and his Butler hiding? And can love grow in darkness? - Sebastian/OC slowmance
1. The Arrival

Thick fog covered the river Thames like a white, milky blanket. A black horse drew a carriage over London Bridge leading out of the city. The moon was slowly rising up into the sky and it seemed the carriage was the only thing wanting to leave the city at an hour like this.

A pair of bright, green eyes glanced off the window of the carriage, thoughtfully watching the moon while the girl thought about the last conversation with her parents.

"_Mom, I don't want to leave you! Why do you send me away?" _

"_It is the best for you if you leave the city for a while. The best for your safety, my dear,_" her mother's voice echoed through her mind as Annie leaned her forehead against the glass and sighed heavily.

"_I don't even know that Master Phantomhive! What if he's cruel? What if he's beating me? I'm not a maid!"_ she had cried while her father had stored her suitcase into the carriage.

"_He won't abuse you, Annie. The Phantomhive mansion might be the safest place for you now. Don't worry about us. Everything will be fine. Once our problems are solved you'll come back. I promise,"_ her father had said and placed a soft kiss on top of her head.

She had no idea in what kind of problems her parents were involved in, but it must be a matter of delicacy and maybe even dangerous if they send their only daughter out of the city and onto a stranger's mansion somewhere in the outskirts of London.

She just turned eighteen not that long ago and already missed her friends back in their little townhouse. They were part of the new created middle-class, not rich and not poor. Her father invested into the upcoming expansion of the rail network and made some good money with it.  
Annie had learned to read, calculate and write from a personal tutor her father saved money for. He always wanted her to become an intelligent and independent woman, which was quite unusual in times like these.

She snapped out of her thoughts as the carriage bumped through a pothole on the road and finally came to a halt. She checked her golden pocket-watch with the little portrait of her family inside and was more than surprised that she already reached her destination after two hours. It was eight in the evening and she sighed heavily before she stepped out of the carriage.

She wrapped her black woolen coat around her body and took her suitcase. She hadn't packed much for she expected to return home in no more than two weeks. Her father had said the Earl of Phantomhive would need a new servant for a certain amount of time and though Annie had not that much experience as a servant, her parents had decided to send her to the mansion anyway.

Now that she stood in front of the gargantuan building made of grey stone and marble, she gulped and felt more than nervous. She had seen a couple of upper-class mansions before, mostly during her few vacations with her parents, but this was by far the biggest she had ever seen. And much to her discomfort it was surrounded by a quite large and creepy forest.

She cast a nervous glance around her shoulder and saw the carriage slowly disappearing down the road. Finally she turned and walked up the long stairway leading her closer towards the front door. With shaky breath and trembling hands she knocked against the heavy wooden door. A fresh autumn evening breeze played with her long, gold-blonde hair and made her shiver a bit.

'_Come on, open the door,'_ she thought impatiently and cast another glance back towards the forest.

"Welcome to Phantomhive Manor, Miss Conroy," a velvety voice suddenly spoke up and caused her to wince and squeal in shock. She placed a hand on her chest and let out a relieved breath as she saw the butler of the mansion in front of her.

"You scared me to death," she said and caught the hint of a smile on his lips while he watched her intently.

"That was not my intention, Miss. Please, enter—," he signaled her with a gesture of his gloved hand to step into the entry hall and took the suitcase out of her hand.

"Oh, that's really not necessary," she protested but he lifted his hand to silence her. She blinked at him in surprise and nodded in defeat.

"Right—my name is Annie Conroy," she offered her hand to him. He watched her blankly before he shook her hand wordlessly. "And your name is—?" she asked confused. He let go of her hand and moved up the flight of stairs.

"Sebastian Michaelis. I'm the butler of Master Phantomhive. Follow me, I will lead you to your room. It is late already and you will have to get up early tomorrow."

"I do?" she asked and followed him up the stairs and along a hallway. Her gaze drifted along the wall with all those old paintings and nearly bumped into him as he stopped in front of a wooden door.

"Yes. Your shift starts at sharp six. I want to see you in the kitchen on time," he replied and opened the door for her. He stepped inside and placed her suitcase on a chair close to the window.  
Annie placed her coat on the bed and turned around to ask for the direction to the kitchen, but the butler was already gone. She frowned and huffed, confused about the fact that she didn't hear him leave or even closing the door.

'_What a strange man. How should I know where the kitchen is?'_ she thought while she unpacked her suitcase and hung her clothes into the wardrobe where she also found a maid uniform. She picked it up and stepped in front of the mirror, holding the uniform close against her body.  
A smile flashed over her face before she closed the wardrobe again and began to inspect the room. The walls were painted in a soft hue of ivory. A four-poster canopy bed made of mahogany wood was positioned against the wall. A night table made of carved wood stood beside the bed. A large mirror was hanging at the wall and a couple of paintings in gold frames hung at both sides of the bed.

In front of the window was a comfy armchair and a small table. A vase with blue and white flowers was placed on top of the table. Everything was beautifully decorated and the color of the room made Annie feel like home immediately. She smiled and changed her clothes into a white nightgown. After washing her face and cleaning her teeth she closed the curtains, slipped under the blanket and fell asleep on instant.

* * *

"Has she arrived, Sebastian?"

"Yes, young Master. I led her to her room and told her what time her shift begins tomorrow. Everything's in order," Sebastian replied while he prepared the young Earl for his bedtime. Ciel Phantomhive watched his butler curiously before he asked,

"What do you think about her? Will she be more useful as a servant than the rest?" He slipped under his blanket and leaned against the headboard of his bed. The butler watched his master, his crimson colored eyes turned thoughtful before he replied vaguely,

"That has yet to be seen." He put the light of the candles out. Moonlight fell into the room as the only source of light. "Shall I close the curtains?" he asked and shifted towards the window.

"No, it's fine. You may retire for the night now. And your task for tomorrow is to make sure the new girl does not crash as much as Mey-Rin," Ciel mumbled as his head touched the fluffy pillow.

"Yes, my Lord," Sebastian bowed his head and left the room. Silently he headed down the hallway. He stopped in front of Annie's room and stared thoughtfully at the closed door. After a couple of moments he shook his head and moved on. He entered his own bedroom and lowered onto his bed. Slowly he began to undress himself and placed his shirt, tailcoat and gloves neatly folded onto the dresser.

Though he actually had no need to sleep he decided to try and slumber a bit. Once his head touched the pillow he closed his eyes. A smile flashed over his face as he remembered the moment he opened the front door and found that young girl in front of him. She was so nervous though he sensed she was not an average girl. She had a strong soul, a beautiful face—his eyes opened again and stared at the ceiling of his room.

'_What are you doing here? She is the new servant and nothing more. Don't get too attached to her!' _he chided himself and turned around the stare out of the window. The moon stood at its highest point and sent its pale light into the room. With a sigh Sebastian checked his pocket-watch. It was already past midnight which meant he'd see Annie again in no more than five hours. That made him feel strangely excited.

He grumbled and got up to dress again. Instead of lying in bed and thinking about that girl he could also get down to the kitchen and make sure the pantry was full and check if they need any new goods from town.

Everything was better than taking a rest. Everything was better than giving in to these strange new thoughts.


	2. First day of work

Rolling thunder boomed up in the middle of the night. Annie stirred and shot wide awake as the thunder grew louder. First she had no idea where she was and cast a confused glance around the dark room until she remembered her arrival at the mansion. She frowned as she was aware that it was no thunder, but a rapid knocking at the door. She grumbled and checked her pocket-watch.

"Oh my!" she squeaked and jumped out of her bed. Hastily she grabbed a dressing gown and wrapped it around her before she jumped towards the door. A pair of crimson colored eyes looked down at her and he seemed not to be amused. Before the butler could say anything she began,

"I'm _so_ sorry! Really, I'm sorry! I was just so tired and that bed is so warm and fluffy and I thought it's still in the middle of the night—"

"You should better get dressed and meet us in the kitchen. I'll give you the chores for today, Miss Conroy," he silenced her and turned to leave. She blinked multiple times and peeked out of the door into the hallway watching him leave.

"Can't you stay and wait for me? I don't know where the kitchen is!" she called.

He cast a glance back over his shoulder. "Down the stairs and just follow the ruckus," he replied and moved on. Annie stared into the dimly lighted hallway until he was gone. With a huff she entered her room again and closed the door.

"Perfect, Annie. Your first day of work and you're already half an hour too late!" she grumbled and made a quick wash and dressed in the maid uniform. She turned in front of the mirror and sighed. What if this was simply a stupid idea? She had no idea about being a servant. She was certain she would break an expensive set of porcelain and got thrown out of the mansion. Finally she made a ponytail and left the room heading downstairs.

Once she reached the entry hall she stopped and cast a glance in all possible directions as suddenly a girl with cherry-red hair and glasses as thick as bricks came running towards her. She carried some plates and porcelain cups on her arms and screamed,

"_Aaah!_" She tripped and came crashing into Annie. The girls tumbled down with a thud and Annie prepared herself for the sound of breaking plates. Much to her surprise nothing like this happened at all. Carefully she opened her eyes and saw the girl still clinging to her, while Sebastian towered over them with the dishes in his hands. He cocked an eyebrow and offered his other hand towards her.

"Would you please go down from me?" Annie mumbled and pushed the girl away to take his hand. He helped her up and said with a soft smile,

"I told you that you would find the way to the kitchen. Mey-Rin is the greatest ruckus of them all."

Annie turned and watched the girl getting up on her feet and fumbling with her glasses before she said, "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm such a clod!" She squeaked and tried to hide behind Annie in fear of Sebastian's anger. The butler watched them for a second before he pushed the dishes into Annie's arms.

"Follow me," he simply said and entered another hallway with Annie and Mey-Rin right behind.

"What is your name? You are the new maid, right? Of course, what a stupid question, you wear the uniform. I'm sorry, I talk too much. Please forgive me. My name is Mey-Rin," the girl babbled and Annie couldn't help but giggle quietly while she desperately tried not to trip and break any plate or cup.

"It's fine, and yes I'm the new maid. My name is Annie," she replied as they finally reached the kitchen where two blonde boys sat around a wooden table. They immediately jumped to their feet and approached her with bright smiles on their quite handsome faces.

"You must be Annie!" the younger boy said and took her hand as he added, "I'm Finnian, but everyone calls me Finny. I'm the gardener! It's so great to finally meet you! Sebastian talked about you the whole morning—"

"Finny! Why are you still here? I told you to prepare the garden! Our guest arrives at sharp six tonight!" the butler grumbled and sent an annoyed look towards the young gardener. The boy jumped and ran out of the kitchen.

Annie chuckled as the other man stepped towards her. "My name is Bard and I'm the cook. Though Sebastian never lets me cook for the young Master," he grumbled and earned a huff from the butler.

"Why is that?" Annie asked curiously and watched Sebastian intently. She didn't understand the reason that there was a cook in the household who was not allowed to cook for the Master.

"The reason for that is simple—the life of Master Phantomhive is too precious. Bard can cook for you, but I prefer to prepare the Master's meal myself," Sebastian simply stated while his gloved hands smoothly worked at the kitchen-counter to prepare tea and a breakfast. Annie nodded understandingly and shifted from one foot to the other, quite uncertain what she should do or say next. Suddenly she spotted a small man in the corner.

"Is he real?" she whispered to Mey-Rin and pointed at the elder, grey haired man with the monocle and a cup of tea in hands. The red-haired maid giggled. "Yes, he is real. His name is Tanaka. He is the steward of the household," she explained and Annie sent him a smile. He simply smiled back and let out a quiet, "Ho Ho Ho."

She led her gaze back to the butler and stepped closer towards him. "So, what are my chores for today?"

He seemed to ignore her and so she took the time to cast a closer look at him. He was tall, his hair black like a raven and his eyes were crimson colored which made him sort of interesting. His skin was pale but it suited him very well. Her gaze drifted along his tailcoat until she head him clear his throat. She looked up in surprise and saw his lips twitch upwards a bit.

"You will assist me today. I will show you the mansion and introduce you to Master Phantomhive. Here, take the tea and follow me," he said and handed her a tray with a pot of tea and a single cup made of the finest china. Sebastian pushed the cart with the breakfast and signaled her to follow him.

"May I ask you something?" she said while they walked side by side along the hallway.

"That depends," he replied and made her frown. "Uhm—on what?" she asked curiously.

"Nevermind. What do you want to know?"

"Is—is Ciel Phantomhive a friendly Master?" she asked carefully and watched him uncertainly. Sebastian cast a quick glance at her before he replied,

"All things are relative, don't you think? He is young with a hurtful past. And yet he is fair and hospitable. You should not worry too much about it. You are not here to make friends with him. You are here to work for him."

"You're quite a charmer, right?" Annie mumbled sarcastically and stopped in front of a huge wooden double-door. Sebastian ignored her last statement and turned to look at her.

"This is the dining room. He is already waiting for us."

"Alright," she breathed and straightened herself. She still felt a little nervous as Sebastian pushed the door open and entered with Annie right behind.

* * *

"Good morning, young Master. Today's breakfast contains of toast, sunny-side eggs and bacon."

"Thank you, Sebastian. What kind of tea did you bring today?" the young boy asked and Sebastian smiled. "Earl Grey from the finest leaves with honeyed flavor," he replied and gestured Annie to place the tray on the table. She stepped forward and smiled nervously at the young boy. The surprisingly young boy. She thought he was at least twenty, but he couldn't be much older than twelve or thirteen.

"Good morning, Earl Phantomhive," she said uncertainly and poured tea into the cup. With shaking hands she handed it to him. He took it with a thankful nod and exchanged a satisfied look with his butler before he replied,

"I didn't have the time to welcome you properly in my household. My name is Ciel Phantomhive. You may call me Ciel. Annie Conroy, that was your name if I am not mistaken?"

"Yes, Ear—Ciel, that's correct," she replied and hastily stepped back next to Sebastian. Ciel nipped from his tea and looked up again. "You've outdone yourself, once again," he said to his butler. Sebastian placed his hand on his chest and bowed slightly.

Annie watched him curiously, surprised how submissive the butler could be and yet a strange aura radiated around him. A warmth that seemed to comfort her and she felt more relaxed in this very moment. She blushed a bit as he looked down at her.

Her gaze drifted back to the young Earl who sat silently and alone at that massive, long table in that huge dining room. Thousands of questions burned on her tongue, but she kept silent and waited patiently until Ciel finished his breakfast. Sebastian took the empty plates while she took the tray with the tea pot and the cup.

"What is on my plan for today, Sebastian?" he asked and got up.

The butler smiled and replied calmly, "You will meet with Professor Hugh on the subject of becoming a good leader. After lunch you will have a lesson in the art of self-defence."

The boy sighed and leaned his head into the palm of his hand. "I don't think I want to practice that today."

"You should—and it's only one hour. And now you shouldn't let Professor Hugh waiting too long," the butler replied determined. Ciel finally excused himself and so Sebastian and Annie walked silently back to the kitchen. Once they arrived he told her to wash the dishes.

She did what he told her and felt how he watched every move of her while he sat at the table having a small breakfast as well. Finally she sighed and asked without looking at him,

"He is lonely, isn't he?"

She winced as he felt his presence so close behind her as he got up and placed his plate into the warm water in the sink. She stopped washing and looked up at him. His face was so close that she felt the heat of his breath on her skin which made her blush once again.

"Aren't we all alone in this world?" he whispered before he stepped away again and began to rummage in another corner of the kitchen. Annie thought about his last statement and sighed heavily. He was right. Even she was alone in this mansion surrounded by strangers, away from her home, away from her family.

She cast another glance back towards him and saw his gaze drifting away from her quickly.


	3. One hell of a dinner

Annie sat silently at the kitchen table and watched Bard who just put pots and pans on the oven. She remembered that a guest would arrive in the evening and knew very well that Sebastian wouldn't want Bard to prepare the meal.

"Uhm, Bard? What are you doing?" she asked curiously. The cook cast a glance back towards her and grinned cheekily.

"I will create a mouth-watering meal for our guest!"

She cocked an eyebrow. "Does Sebastian know about this?"

"Are you insane? Of course, not! But once he sees it, he will be proud of me! Maybe he will let me cook for Master Ciel as well sometime," he replied and continued with his work. Annie chuckled and got up as she replied teasingly,

"Fine, but I won't stay here. Not that I get trouble for letting you do this." Without another word she left the kitchen. The sound of her shoes echoed through the hallway while she walked on deep in thoughts. Soon she realized that she was completely lost. Though Sebastian had shown her the most common routes, this part of the mansion was new to her. It seemed to be the basement and much to her discomfort it was dark and dusty.

"Uhm—hello? Is anyone down here?" she called and coughed as a cloud of dust whirled up from a bookshelf. She placed her hand in front of her mouth and stepped closer towards the shelf. Her fingertips trailed over the backs of the books and saw that a lot of them were simply history books. One caught her attention the most and so she picked it up and opened it. It was a book about the history of England, a book she once had read during her lessons with her tutor.

"My, my, are we lost?"

She squeaked and let the book drop to the floor. More dust whirled up and made it hard for her to see anything. She searched frantically around until she saw the eyes of the butler in front of her, slowly stepping out of the shadow.

"Did you follow me?" she breathed out and tried to slow her heartbeat again. He chuckled and picked the book up to place it back on the shelf.

"No, why should I follow you?" he asked curiously.

"I don't know—to control me? This is still my first day and—"

"And you woke up too late and already got lost in a dark corner of the mansion. You should be thankful that I'm here," he said with a smile.

"How long have you been here?" she asked suspiciously, afraid that he might have watched her reading the entire time. Sebastian seemed to sense her uncertainty and stepped closer. It was as if only his eyes glowed in the dim light of the room.

"Now come on, I will guide you back," he said and turned to leave. Annie frowned and followed him back into the entry hall. She stopped and watched him curiously. "You haven't answered my question, yet," she said teasingly and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"What question?" he asked confused and watched her intently.

"How did you know I'm down there?"

A smile flashed over his face. "I'm just one hell of a butler," he winked and left her alone in the hall.

'_What did he mean by that?'_ she wondered but decided to push these thoughts aside. He was obviously quite odd, but in the end it was not her business at all.

* * *

Just like Sebastian had assumed, the three other servants had completely messed up with their tasks. Annie was curious what Sebastian had come up with to make this meeting hospitable for the guest who would arrive within a couple of minutes.

"Who is the guest, if I may ask?" she stepped next to him while they were waiting in the entry hall. Ciel had just joined them and stood quite bored opposite of them. Mey-Rin, Bard and Finny were quite nervous for they had nearly messed everything up. Sebastian's gaze drifted to Annie as he explained calmly,

"Lord Clause is the uncle of our young Master. He comes from Italy to deliver—some goods. That is all you need to know."

She nodded shortly while her gaze drifted to Ciel. He watched her and his butler quite curiously until the sound of a car waved through the air outside. Sebastian opened the front door and Ciel stepped outside to welcome his uncle.

"Good evening, Ciel! My, such a long time! Have you grown?" the elder man said cheerfully with a bright smile on his face. He pulled his nephew into a tight hug and Annie could see that the young Master was more than annoyed by that sudden touch.

"Unfortunately, I haven't," Ciel replied with a blank expression and gestured his uncle to follow him inside.

"Welcome, Lord Clause," the butler and the servants bowed a bit. Sebastian stepped towards him and said with an apologetic smile, "I am sorry to keep you waiting."

"Sebastian! Long time no see—"his voice trailed off as his gaze drifted along the servants. "And I see there are some new faces, right?" He ruffled Finny's hair and smiled brightly at Annie. He took her hand and placed a kiss on top of it. "And a new maid, I see?"

Sebastian stepped closer. "Would you follow me to the courtyard? Tea is already prepared,"he said quite sharply and Clause watched him confused.

"To the courtyard?"

The butler smiled. "I have been told by the Master to prepare hospitality which rewards your efforts this time. I'll be happy if it meets your expectations."

"Well then, lead the way," Clause said merrily and together they stepped outside into the courtyard. Annie gasped as she saw the beauty of the place. It was a Japanese style rock garden and obviously Clause was more than amazed by the sight of it as well. Annie felt a hand on her back as Sebastian gently pushed her closer to the table.

"Pour the tea and join me in the kitchen," he whispered and she nodded understandingly. She stepped towards the guest and smiled shyly while she poured him a cup of tea.

"Mmmh, that smells delicious. Sebastian had once again outdone himself," Clause said as he sipped from the tea. He watched Annie quite wantonly and she cast a glance at Ciel. He signaled her to pour a cup of tea for him. She stepped hastily closer to the young Master.

"Thank you, Annie. Go and join Sebastian in the kitchen," he said and led his gaze back to his uncle to listen to what he had to say. Annie spotted the three other servants not far hiding behind a bush and chuckled before she entered the mansion again and headed to the kitchen.

"That smells wonderful. What are you cooking?" she stepped closer to the oven to cast a glance into the pots and pans.

"Unfortunately these are just some leftovers of the meal Bard had tried to—flambée," Sebastian mumbled. "I'm only trying to safe what's left to create a meal suitable for our guest."

Annie chuckled amused. "Flambée, you say? Well, that looks like as if he had tried it with a flamethrower," she pointed at the black pieces of meat in the trash bin. Sebastian watched her blankly and she felt it was not right to laugh in this very moment. She cast a glance around the room and asked,

"Can I help you somehow?"

Much to her relief his lips twitched upwards. "No, not really, though you could put the cutlery on the cart over there," he pointed to the cart next to the door. She went to do what he had told her and said,

"If I can't help you much, why should I join you here instead of being hospitable to our guest?" She put the forks and knifes on the cart without looking at him.

"I just had the feeling Lord Clause enjoys your hospitability a bit too much," he simply replied while he continued preparing the meal. Annie frowned and watched him curiously for a while. _'Is he jealous?'_ she asked herself confused until he finally handed her two bowls. "And what kind of meal is that now?" she asked as she placed the bowls on the cart.

"It's a simple beef bowl."

"I can see that, but what will you tell the Lord? He might be surprised just to get a simple beef bowl for dinner, don't you think?"

"You will see," he winked and gestured her to push the cart out of the kitchen. Once they stepped outside again, the conversation between Ciel and Clause stopped immediately.

"I am sorry to interrupt, but dinner is ready to be served," Sebastian said and handed Annie a bowl and gestured her to bring it to Ciel. She placed it in front of the boy and looked up just to see the surprised face of Lord Clause.

"Uhm—what is that?" he asked puzzled and looked up at Sebastian. The butler smiled and replied,

"It's Donburi—"

"Donburi?" Clause called out and stared at the butler in utter disbelief. The tension was thick and Annie's gaze was fixed on Sebastian as he suddenly began to explain proudly,

"Donburi is a dish from ancient Japan that was used to reward workers. It was a dish that symbolized rewarding workers after their work was over. That's the dish called Donburi! It is said that the dish Houhan was only eaten in the royal court. However, commoners also wanted to try it and this was the origin of Donburi. Furthermore, I thought you would be tired of sophisticated food. To allow you to simply savour the high quality meat, I have prepared it in this style."

They all blinked and stared at him in surprise until Lord Clause broke out into laughter. "This is great! Ciel, you always surprise me!" He turned to look at Sebastian and added, "I didn't think that Donburi was such a meaningful dish. You really are knowledgeable!"

"Thank you very much," Sebastian bowed respectfully. He looked up and winked at Annie with a smile. She returned his smile and saw Mey-Rin approaching the table. Her task was to pour the wine and Annie had more than a bad feeling about it, but kept silent and watched with horror how the girl tried to pour the wine into the glass.

'_Not good—not good! Oh no, she spilled it!'_ Annie internally gasped. Within the blink of an eye the tablecloth was removed from the table without the noticing of the Lord. Even Ciel seemed to be surprised and Annie felt her heartbeat quicken as she saw Sebastian with the cloth over his arms.

"Where—where did the cloth go?" Clause suddenly asked and stopped eating. Ciel swallowed a piece of meat before he replied, "There was some dirt on the tablecloth. Please, don't take any notice of it."

"I apologize, please take your time and enjoy your meal," Sebastian added and signaled Annie and the rest of the servants to leave the courtyard.

"That was impressive," Annie said while she walked side by side with Sebastian towards the lavatory. "I guess I might have knocked everything down from the table by trying to pull the cloth away," she added and giggled. The butler smiled and watched her amused.

"I should have let _you_ pour the wine. It was a mistake to give Mey-Rin that task. It was my fault and therefore I had to act quickly before it ended in another disaster," he replied and put the dirty cloth into the basket.

"How can you be so sure I wouldn't have spilled the wine as well?" she asked amused and watched him approaching her again. She turned and left the lavatory with him.

"You're not like Mey-Rin," he simply stated.

* * *

The evening carried on without any more incidents and finally the servants were told to retire for the night. Bard, Finny and Mey-Rin headed upstairs to their rooms while Annie decided to wash some dishes.

"You should sleep. Tomorrow is a new day and you don't want to be late again, right?" Sebastian said as he entered the kitchen and saw her still working. He gently took the plate out of her hand and leaned against the kitchen counter. He watched her amused and saw that her hair slowly began to free itself out of the ponytail and she looked more than exhausted.

She smiled up at him. "Alright—let's see if I can find the way back to my room," she giggled and headed towards the door. She frowned and cast a glance over her shoulder.

"Go on, I have the same way," he simply stated while he held a candlestick in his hand.  
"Uhm—fine," she mumbled and left the kitchen with Sebastian by her side. Silently they walked up the flight of stairs and along the hallway. Annie checked her pocket-watch and saw that it was already past midnight. "When will my shift begin tomorrow?" she asked sleepily.

"Sharp six, like every day," he replied and bit back a grin as she sighed heavily. He cast a quick glance at her and added, "You never worked as a maid before, right?"

"Am I that obvious?" she chuckled and looked up at him. His eyes seemed to glow in the darkness and she couldn't deny that they fascinated her immensely.

"Despite the fact that you seem to be a slugabed—"he began and earned a playful scowl from her. The green of her eyes flashed in the light of the candles. "You are quite skillful with the tasks I'm giving you and you're a greater help in the kitchen than any of the other's. Once you get used to the working hours you will be the perfect addition to this household," he added and stopped in front of her room.

"Thank you for your confidence, but do you think I have to stay that much longer?" she asked and turned to face him. He tilted his head a bit in curiosity. "What do you mean by that?" he asked and Annie stepped a bit closer.

"I mean—how long will I stay? I only packed for two weeks."

"Well then, you should accompany us to the city tomorrow. You will need a lot more clothing," he said and watched her illuminated face. The blonde of her hair shimmered like gold in the fire as she stepped a bit back again.

"That means my parents will need more time to handle their—problems," she mumbled and turned away from him to open the door to her room. "Good night, Sebastian," she whispered sadly and closed the door without another word or look at him.

He stood silent for a second and stared thoughtfully at the closed door until he blew the candles out and walked along the hallway to finally retire for the night as well.


	4. The Master and his Butler

The carriage rumbled slowly along Mint Street with its little shops. Annie sat nervously next to Sebastian while she, the butler and Ciel were on their way to make some errands. Her gaze drifted to Ciel and once again one question popped up on her mind. She cleared her throat and asked carefully,

"Why—why do you have that eye-patch?"

The young boy watched her blankly before he shifted and replied vaguely, "That's just an old injury. Don't worry about that."

Annie sensed that this was not the full truth and yet she decided to stay silent and watch the morning traffic of London. Children hurried along the street, pulling their parents towards a toy-shop. Upper class ladies with huge hats strolled along the sidewalk chatting and laughing. Annie sighed and asked,

"Will I be able to visit my parents?" Her gaze drifted to Sebastian. His eyes seemed to be warmer as he replied, "I don't think that's a good idea, Miss Conroy."

"Annie," she said determined and earned a confused look from him. "I told you my name is Annie. My mother is Miss Conroy," she added and could see an amused twinkle in his eyes.

"Fine, Annie. And no, you will stay with us the entire time. We will get the Master's cane and some clothes for you. We will return to the mansion in the afternoon," he said and checked his pocket-watch. Finally the carriage came to a halt and the three of them stepped outside onto the busy street.

"Wait—I will go get new clothes together with you?" she suddenly turned to look at the boy and his butler. Ciel lowered his gaze and Annie could see he tried to hide a smile.

"You may buy them by yourself. We will just stay nearby to keep an eye out for any intruders," Sebastian replied and cast a glance along the road as if he was looking for something or someone.

"Do you know anything about the problems my parents are involved in?" she stepped closer to Ciel, but the boy turned to follow his butler towards a shop. Annie stared at them in disbelief until Sebastian pulled her out of her thoughts as he called,

"I suggest you keep up, Annie!"

She huffed and followed them into the shop. She decided to stay close to the door while Sebastian and Ciel talked to the owner of the shop. They talked about a cane or something and she nearly squeaked as Sebastian suddenly held the cane in front of the shop-owner like a gun, but finally he let a bag of money drop on the counter and signaled her to leave the shop again.

"What was that about?" she whispered and watched him curiously. He chuckled as he replied, "He made fun of the young Master. I thought it was necessary to show him not to make fun of Master Phantomhive."

"Uhm—alright. He means a lot to you, right?" she asked while they strolled along the road a few steps behind Ciel.

"Yes, he does—"the butler replied calmly and gestured towards another shop. "There you might find suitable clothes."

"Suitable for what?"she chuckled and pinched his arm playfully. He chuckled and pushed her wordlessly into the shop. Annie sighed and began to try on different dresses, trousers, tunics, shoes and jewelry.

Nearly half an hour later she stepped outside again with three bags. Ciel turned and signaled the carriage to come closer. "Well, I am ready to leave if you are," he said and stepped towards his carriage again. Sebastian opened the door and let the boy step inside.  
He took Annie's bags and helped her up as well and finally joined them. The carriage moved on back out of the city. Annie was quite tired and closed her eyes for a while.

As the carriage bumped through a pothole she mumbled and grumbled and finally turned around to snuggle against the soft fabric of her pillow. Her arm and leg wrapped around her blanket and she sighed contently.

"Uhm—"someone cleared his throat and made her snap out of her slumber.

"Wha—?" she mumbled and gasped as she found herself entangled to Sebastian. With a heavy blush she jumped away from him. "I'm sorry! Oh my—why didn't you wake me up?" she asked in shock as she was aware that she had fallen asleep on him. The butler exchanged an amused look with his Master before he replied calmly,

"It seems to be rude to wake a sleeping lady, don't you think?"

She huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I have the strange feeling that it amuses you to embarrass me—"she grumbled and turned to look out of the window.

The butler simply chuckled and they all fell silent for the rest of their way until they finally reached the mansion again.

* * *

"_Ciiiiel!"_ a loud, squealing voice boomed up as they entered the mansion again. Ciel's jaw dropped open as he saw all the shiny, pink decorations and a blonde girl came crashing against him.

"I missed you! Look, I made the hall shiny and beautiful!" she called and placed a kiss on his cheek.  
Annie was more than confused and winced as Sebastian bent down and whispered, "This is Miss Elizabeth. She is his fiancée."

"Oh—they look cute together," she smiled but could see that Ciel was not quite amused about the girl's presence. He signaled Sebastian to take care of her for a while. The butler bowed and offered his hand towards the girl. "Lady Elizabeth, may I lead you to the lounge? Tea will be served soon."

She smiled brightly, but ignored him and jumped towards Annie. "Who are you? Oh, you are _so_ beautiful!"

Ciel sneaked away to avoid Lizzy's attention and Sebastian picked up Annie's bags. "Your new clothes will be in your room", he said and left as well up the flight of stairs. She stared after him in utter disbelief. _'Did he just leave me here with that hyper-active girl?'_ she thought a little upset, but faked a smile as the girl pulled her with her into a nearby room which was actually kind of a lounge as well.

"Now tell me, what is your name?" she asked again and Annie sighed heavily. "Annie, I'm the new maid of Master Phantomhive," she replied and got pushed into an armchair.

"My name is Elizabeth, but you can call me Lizzy!" the girl said and jumped into the armchair across from Annie. "Uhm—nice to meet you, Lizzy. But I don't think I have time to talk with you. Sebastian might need my help with the preparations for the tea—"she was about to get up, but the girl scowled at her.

"No! Please, stay here with me! I like you! How old are you?"

"Eighteen—"

"Aaaaw, I'm fourteen! Do you like to dress up? I love it! And I love masked balls! Maybe we should make one! That will cheer Ciel up, I'm certain. He is always so serious—"Lizzy said without even taking a breath between her sentences, but Annie could hear a sudden sadness in her voice as she mentioned Ciel's lack of happiness. This was the perfect chance to get some more information about the Master.

"Lizzy? May I ask you something?"

"Oh, certainly!" her green eyes sparkled in the light of the afternoon sun that shone brightly through the window in the back of the room. Annie cleared her throat before she asked,

"What happened to Ciel's parents? Why does he live here alone with just his butler and us servants? He doesn't even have any pets to cheer him up. Sebastian mentioned he has a hurtful past and—and that he forgot to smile or laugh at al. Do you know anything about this?"

"His parents died in the fire. The whole mansion was alit and—well, that is nearly three years ago. It was on his tenth birthday. Since then he avoids to celebrate his birthday. He vanished for a long time and returned as that boy you know him as together with Sebastian. I remember that he was such a cheerful boy when we were children. I wish he would laugh just once for me again," she explained and sighed as her head hung low.

Annie was more than shocked about these tragic news and all those horrible things that boy must have been through. And yet, one question was not answered. "Uhm—Lizzy?"

"Huh?" the girl looked up again quite curiously. Annie shifted a bit closer and whispered, "Do you know why he wears that eye-patch? Did he wear it before—you know?"

"No—he had the most beautiful blue eyes! I don't know why he wears it—he never showed me or told me how he got it. The only thing he assured me was that he still has two eyes," she giggled and leaned back in her chair.

"If the ladies are finished with gossiping, I would ask you to follow me to have tea," the voice of Sebastian suddenly spoke up from behind Annie and made her jump again.

"Seriously—you have to stop that! At least, you should knock before you enter!"

"I did knock—"he replied and signaled her to get up. Lizzy watched them curiously while Annie approached him. "What are my chores?" she asked as she stopped in front of him. His eyes rested on her face for a moment until his gaze drifted back to Lizzy.

"Miss Elizabeth, follow me. The young Master is waiting for you," and finally he looked back at Annie and added, "You will get the tea from the kitchen and join us in the lounge upstairs."

With the he left the room with Lizzy right behind him. Annie shook her head in defeat and did what she was told.

'_He came back after a long time—together with Sebastian,'_ Lizzy's words echoed through her mind while she fetched the tea and walked carefully up the flight of stairs. Before she entered the lounge she stopped again.

'_Where did Sebastian come from?'_ she thought, now determined to find as much information about the Master and his butler as possible. She straightened and entered the room with a smile.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading my story! I would really love to hear if you like it! Don't be shy and just drop a few words in the review section. That would encourage me a lot to go on with the story!**


	5. Shall we dance?

"No! I am _not_ interested in a masked ball!" Ciel protested while he sat behind his mahogany desk the other day. Annie had just poured a cup of tea for him and watched the young Master uncertainly. Should she tell him how sad Lizzy was about the fact that he was so serious? That he would make her happy with a ball like this?

"Uhm—if I may say something—"she began but Sebastian placed his hand on her forearm and shortly shook his head. "But—"she tried one more time and earned a scowl from Ciel.  
She sighed and turned to leave the study. Quietly she walked down towards the kitchen. Angrily she pushed the door open and slumped down at the table.

"What's wrong?" Bard asked and watched her concerned while he puffed from his cigarette. She cast a quick glance at him. "Nothing," she sighed and nipped at a cup of tea.  
Finally she put it down and got up again. "No! I won't let it happen that this innocent girl is sad and dashed! How can a twelve year old boy be so—so—like _him_? I will make this ball happen. And _you_ will help me with that!" she pointed at Bard as well as Mey-Rin and Finny who had just entered the kitchen.

The red-haired maid squealed and jumped up and down in amazement. "A ball? Oh, yes! We will make the most wonderful ball ever! I will clean the ball room!" she called and left the kitchen again.

"I will cut the bushes and trees outside!" Finny called and left as well happily laughing. Annie cast a glance at Bard. "And y_ou_ will cook a dinner. But please—don't use a flamethrower again."

The blonde cook grinned and saluted. "Aye, aye! I'll make the most delicious meal for the ball!"

Annie chuckled and left the kitchen just to bump into the butler. "Why are you all on the run?" he asked curiously and stepped away from her. Annie blushed a bit as she replied, "I—I plan to make the masked ball happen."

"I suppose you heard what our young Master had said earlier," he cocked an eyebrow and yet she didn't miss the amused twinkle in his eyes.

"Yes, of course, I did. But have you ever really talked to Lizzy? She is such a cheerful girl and all she wants is to see him smile at least once for her. I know how she must feel and therefore I think she deserves a smile of her fiancée. Will you help me, Sebastian?" she watched him pleadingly and placed her hand on his forearm.  
He watched her intently, thoughtfully, his gaze drifted to her hand touching him so softly. His lips twitched a bit and after a long pause he finally sighed, "Fine, I will try and talk to him again, but I can't promise anything."

She smiled brightly at him and felt the urge to hug him, but she hastily pushed these thoughts aside. "You're a good butler," she said teasingly instead and ran along the hallway to search for Lizzy.

* * *

**Three days later**

Much to everyone's surprise, Ciel had finally accepted to send some invitations for a masked ball. While Sebastian taught him how to dance, Annie cared about the preparations of the ball room together with Lizzy and Mey-Rin.

"Oh, this will be a wonderful ball! Have you ever been on a masked ball?" Lizzy asked while she decorated the walls with pink and golden festoons.

"No, but will I even be allowed to dress up and dance as well? I mean—I'm just a servant," Annie replied while she polished the windows standing on a ladder. Lizzy turned and squealed, _"You_ will be allowed without any doubt. I mean, without _you_ we might not even celebrate at all! Just because of _you_ Sebastian talked to Ciel again and changed his mind!"

"She is right," the butler's voice suddenly spoke up as he entered the room. Annie had once again not noticed his presence and screamed as she dropped down from the ladder right into his arms. She scowled at him and blushed as he placed her down on her feet again.

"Do you even make _any _noise when you enter a room?" she asked and picked the cleaning rag up from the floor.

"I do, but you are simply too much into gossiping—"

"I'm _not_ gossiping," she grumbled and walked past him towards the door. "And thank you for catching me," she added and grabbed the door-handle. He followed her and placed his gloved hand on hers to stop her. A smile showed up on his face as he took the cloth out of her hand. Lizzy smiled brightly as she watched them curiously and giggled quietly.

"You should go and dress up. The guests will arrive in two hours," the butler said with a smile.

"But—but I don't have a mask," she said. "Not even a suitable dress for a night like this."

"Just go—"he said with a wink and pushed her out of the ball room. Annie knew that butler would be the death of her one day. She entered her bedroom and found a box on top of her bed. She frowned and stepped closer, her fingertips trailed over the box before she opened it carefully.  
She gasped in surprise as she found a beautiful, ruffled red dress inside, with silver applications at the bustier part. There was also a red mask with golden applications and a bushy red feather at the side, as well as golden high heels.

"Wow—"she breathed completely amazed and lifted the dress out of the box to hold it in front of her. She stepped towards the mirror and giggled.

'_Who gave me this?'_ she asked quietly and began to undress out of the maid uniform and prepared herself for a hot, refreshing bath. While she enjoyed the hot water on her skin, she thought about the dress again. Maybe Lizzy bought it for her, but when should she have done this? She never left the mansion and they were together most of the time. Annie shrugged and began to scrub her skin with a wash-cloth and washed her long, blonde mane.

Finally she stepped out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her slender body. She rubbed her hair a bit dry and lowered down in front of the window from where she had a wonderful view over parts of the huge garden. She absently combed through her hair and hummed a tune she remembered from her mother.

What were her parents doing in this very moment? Were they in trouble? Did they flee from London as well?  
Annie was so deep in her own thoughts, that she nearly missed the knock at the door until a second, louder knock sounded up again and pulled her out of her thoughts.

She hastily got up from the armchair and tightened the grip around the towel to not risking it to drop. "Who is this?" she called and prayed silently that it wasn't Sebastian.

"It's me!" the merry voice of Lizzy replied and Annie breathed out in relief. "Alright, come in," she called and the blonde girl entered. She immediately spotted the dress and the mask on the bed and squealed.

"Oh my, Annie! That's the most beautiful dress! I thought you said you have no suitable dress," she said and inspected the dress.

"So—this is not from you?" Annie asked curiously and saw confusion in the girl's green eyes. Lizzy shook her head and picked the mask up to place it on her face. She giggled and looked up at Annie. "You should get dressed. Can I help you?"

"Yes, certainly—"Annie mumbled still a little confused. Who might have given her all these beautiful things? Even Sebastian came to her mind as she remembered that he wanted her to get dressed, but why should he do this? No, that was impossible. Maybe it was a gift from Master Ciel. She sighed and finally began to put on her underwear and slipped into the dress. It fit perfectly and Lizzy squealed even more.

* * *

Carriage over carriage stopped in front of the mansion and wildly attired guests entered the ballroom. Bard was still busy in the kitchen, proud about the fact that Sebastian had allowed him to prepare some of the snacks. Nevertheless, Sebastian himself had prepared most of them.

Finny watched how some of the guests admired the freshly cut bushes in the garden and Mey-Rin simply stared in wonderment at all those beautiful dresses and masks.

Annie carefully walked along the hallway and down the flight of stairs. Her hands trembled as she stopped in front of the ball room. She had never been on such a festival and she felt as if that red dress and that mask on her face would draw too much attention to her. She checked herself again and finally entered the ball room.

The ball was already in full swirl. The dazzling light of the chandeliers bounced off the ceiling and sparkled on the jewels of the noble ladies dancing with ever so noble men.

Annie stood still a little uncertain at the side of the room and searched frantically for Lizzy or any of the others. She needed to see at least one familiar face and finally spotted Ciel and Lizzy at a table with plates of Horsd'oeuvre in front of them.  
She could see that Ciel was still quite bored and not very happy about that whole ball. He didn't even wear a mask, but was dressed in quite fine clothes. Lizzy had linked her arm with his and talked to him with her ever cheerful voice.

Annie chuckled and was about to approach their table as suddenly a man stepped in front of her. He wore a white shirt with a black tuxedo as well as white gloves. His mask was cream-colored with golden applications and showed a pair of familiar eyes. Eyes in a hue of red wine. A smile curled is lips as he offered his hand to her.

"May I have this dance, my Lady?" his voice sounded like molten chocolate and Annie couldn't help but agree to his offer. She shyly took his hand though she knew very well that it was _him._

She smiled while he led her to the dance floor. He stopped and lifted her hand. Annie remembered what her tutor had taught her once and placed her other hand on his shoulder. With increasing heartbeat she felt his other hand trail down along her side until it came to a rest on her waist.

He smiled and began to move slowly to the rhythm of the music. Annie let him lead her over the dance floor, never breaking his eye-contact. "That dress suits you very well," he whispered while his hand shifted to her lower back and pressed her a bit closer against him. A shiver ran down her spine and she was unable to speak for a moment. Instead she smiled brightly at him while her long hair waved smoothly with each move of them.

"I didn't know you can dance so well," she finally said and saw out of the corner of her eyes that some of the guests were watching them curiously and Lizzy smiled brightly at her. Sebastian chuckled and leaned in closer to her face. "I'm not one mere butler, Annie," he whirled her around and pulled her closer again. She tightened the grip at his shoulder a bit to steady her and looked into his eyes again.

"Who are you?" she asked carefully.

"I thought that's obvious?" he replied playfully as they stopped dancing. She stepped away from him and watched him from head to toe. "No, I mean—where do you come from? What is your connection to Ciel?"

He watched her amused, lifted her hand and placed a kiss on top of it. "Thank you for that wonderful dance, my Lady. I'm afraid I have to leave you now."

"Sebastian—"she breathed in an attempt to stop him but he already walked past her and left the room. She stared at the closed door and sighed. Why did he avoid answering her questions? And why did she even care about him?

She put on a smile again and searched for Lizzy. She found her on a sofa nearby and could see that she was in a miserable mood. Annie lowered down next to her. "What's wrong, Lizzy?"

"C—Ciel—he just left," the girl sobbed and brushed a tear from her face.

"Why? Did you have an argument?"

"No! I just wanted to dance with him. I wanted to have a dance just like you with that stranger—"

Annie bit back a smile as she realized that Lizzy had no idea who that stranger actually was. She looked back at the crying girl as Lizzy said, "I grew angry because he was still so serious on a festival like this! I wanted to cheer him up—and made him even angrier instead," she leaned against Annie's shoulder. She gently stroked the back of the girl's head.

"Don't cry. Shall I talk to him? I'm certain he is in his study right now," she offered. She couldn't stand seeing this girl so sad. Lizzy sobbed and nodded. "You are my best friend—"she placed a kiss on Annie's cheek. She smiled and left the ball room to head to Ciel's study.

Sebastian was not around and she was certain he was in the kitchen, checking that Bard, Finny and Mey-Rin didn't mess anything up. On her way along the hallway she heard a rumbling sound coming from the study room.

She stopped for a second and held her breath before she ran towards the room and pushed the door open. Before she could say or do anything, something hard hit her on the back of her head. Stars exploded in front of her eyes until the floor came closer and closer. Finally the world around her was painted black.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for all the faves and follows! You are amazing! Don't hesitate to drop some nice words as well**


	6. Rescue me

After what seemed to be an entire life-time, Annie slowly woke up again. She opened her eyes carefully, but the scenery around her was still grey and blurry. Her head was pounding massively.

"Ouh—"she groaned and shifted a bit. She was aware that she was lying on the ground and with growing horror she felt that her hands were bound behind her back.

"Be silent—"a voice whispered somewhere near her and she tried to locate where it was coming from.

"Who are you?" she whispered and turned her head a bit more. "Ciel?" she breathed confused and earned a scowl from him.

"Be silent, Annie!" he hissed. She saw that his hands were bound as well. Blood dripped from his lips. Her mind was rushing as she was aware that they had been kidnapped. She nodded weakly and closed her eyes again, pretending to be still unconscious. Her heart was racing in her chest, while her mind was trying to understand what had happened and who might have kidnapped them.

The last thing she remembered was—dancing with Sebastian. His mysterious smile, those mysterious eyes—his hand on her back pressing her closer against him. A smile flashed over her face, but it vanished as she heard footsteps drawing closer and a door that opened and closed again.

"Who would've thought the president of the world's best toy factory is just a boy? Right? Ciel Phantomhive," a dark voice said amused. Annie frowned but kept silent while the man began to lament about the English people and their Queen.

"The Queen! The Queen! That's all they ever talk about! In the end aren't we two sides of the same coin? So, I just want us to cooperate a bit."

"Sorry, but I have no intentions of conspiring with a filthy rat," Ciel spat and shifted a bit. The man chuckled as he replied,

"_You_ may say that, but what about the others? Right now it might be only the watchdogs who are scared and obedient. I guess Ciel Phantomhive is someone who cleans out corruption. Even though I specifically made it so that I wouldn't sell in Italy—I didn't expect to be tracked this early on—"

Annie had no idea what this was all about, or why she was here as well, but the voice was somewhat familiar to her. She carefully opened one eye again and nearly squeaked in shock as she saw that man with the scar diagonally across his face. She knew him. She had seen him once in her father's office though she was much younger back then, but she would never forget that ugly face. Azzurro was his name, she was certain about that.

"Where are the goods? If you don't spill quickly—I'll kill your servants one by one and I will start with that little beauty here," he stepped towards her with a gun and held it against her temple. She whimpered in fear, no longer able to pretend being unconscious.

"_Let me go!"_ she screamed and tried to get away from him, but the grip around her tightened even more as he pressed the gun closer against her head.

"You better be silent or I'll blow your pretty brain out of your pretty head. Though—actually it would be a shame to waste something like you. I should take the chance and have some fun with you before I kill you. What do you think, Master Phantomhive?" Azzurro grinned wantonly and pushed Annie up on her feet and face first on a desk. She struggled to get up again but was pushed down again. "A pretty dress that you're wearing, and yet I fear I have to destroy it—"he chuckled and began to nestle at his trouser while tears rolled down her cheek.

* * *

Annie closed her eyes, bracing herself for the pain and abusing that was about to follow when suddenly a phone rang deafening loud next to her. Azzurro stepped away from her and picked it up. Annie could hear a sudden commotion, Azzurro yelled in panic.

Whatever happened, something definitely was not working how he had planned it. And that left her even more afraid of his reaction. Silence fell upon the room and Annie shifted and dropped to the floor again, facing Ciel. He signaled her that everything would be fine soon. Azzurro seemed to listen carefully to whoever there was on the phone and she saw growing anger in his eyes.

"Woof," Ciel suddenly said and Azzurro's face changed from anger to shock. He slammed the phone down and paced impatiently up and down. His hand drove nervously through his sweaty hair as his gaze drifted back to the girl lying on the floor. He grabbed her violently and slapped her across her face with the back of his hand. He pushed her down to the floor again and she landed near Ciel again.

"Oouuh—"she breathed and panted heavily. Her head pounded even more from the force of his slap. After a while they could hear loud shooting sounds somewhere outside. _'The police—they're coming to rescue us—'_she thought in relief and smiled as the door opened again. Azzurro's bodyguards immediately began to fire their guns as he called, "Over there! Get him!"

'_Get him? Only one man is here to safe us?'_ panic crept up in her again and she tried to turn and cast a glance around but the pain in her body was still too much.

"That bastard!" the bodyguards yelled furiously. "There he is! Kill him!"

Suddenly they all fell silent—dead silent. Someone stepped closer and Annie gasped as she heard _his_ voice. "I thank you for looking after our Master and our maid."

'_Sebastian?'_ her mind tried to understand what was happening. She tried to roll around again but stopped and listened to the conversation.

"Ha! I never thought you could single-handedly take on all those men. Amazing! I was expecting some sort of super human, not a butler in a black tailcoat. Who are you really? A killer sent by the Phantomhive to save their young Master and that—maid? An undercover special task officer? You can't really be just a butler!"

Sebastian chuckled. "No, I really am just your average butler."

"Oh, really? I've never met a butler of your talents before. I'm impressed. However—"Azzurro grabbed Ciel and placed the gun against the boy's temple now. Annie cried out and earned a kick into her stomach. She flung around and groaned in pain. Sebastian stared at her, her eyes bored into his in confusion as suddenly a fountain of blood spluttered out of his head as a bullet hit him.

"_No!"_ Annie cried.

"Seb—"Ciel breathed as more bullets hit the butler in his head, chest, stomach, arms and legs. He dropped to the ground in a puddle of his own blood. Annie stared at his lifeless body while tears began to blur her vision and she cried his name over and over again.

"Hah, what a fool! I've won this one," Azzurro chuckled in triumph. "Even though he failed to save you, it was still quite touching," he added and lifted Ciel's head a bit. Annie's cries still rang through the air.

"How much longer do you intend to play around for?" Ciel suddenly growled and left Azzurro in a state of confusion. The boy added, "Do you plan on sleeping on that hard floor? _Hurry up and get rid of these guys here!"_

"Fine," Sebastian replied calmly and Annie stopped crying. Her eyes grew wide in shock as she watched the butler rising up to his feet again, still covered in blood tough, but holding six bullets in the palm of his hand. "I'll be returning the favor with these—"he grinned and with a fast move he killed the men with the bullets by using his bare hands, though still covered in his white gloves which were now speckled with blood. "Oh dear, look what you've done," he lifted his coat. "How could you put so many holes into my coat?"

Ciel sighed. "Idiot! Are you still going to fool around?"

"Don't come closer or that little brat will die! And she's next!" Azzurro called in panic and gestured to Annie who still could not believe what she had just witnessed moments ago. She had seen the bullets hitting right into his head and now he stood there as if nothing had happened. She stared at him, couldn't lead her gaze away from the butler.

"Hurry up, Sebastian!" Ciel called and Annie had the strange feeling that this was not at all surprising for the boy that his butler got shot just to rise again.

"But, young Master, he will kill you both if I step closer," the butler said thoughtfully, yet amused. Ciel grew even more impatient and finally yelled, "I order you to come and save us!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Azzurro yelled and fired the gun right into Ciel's head. "What—why is he still alive?" he breathed and froze as Sebastian bent over his shoulder with the bullet between his fingers.

"Allow me to return to you, this bullet," he whispered and let it drop into the man's pocket. He picked Ciel up on his arms and placed him on an armchair nearby and cut the bonds around his wrists.

"Wait! You can't just—"Azzurro yelled but cried out in sudden pain.

"I can—"Sebastian simply replied and picked Annie up. She winced in pain and clung to him, buried her face into the crook of his neck while he carried her. He knelt down in front of Ciel and signaled him to climb onto his back. He carried them both out of the mansion and signaled a carriage driver to prepare to leave. Ciel climbed into the carriage while Sebastian placed Annie carefully down on the soft cushion.

The carriage moved down the path and onto the main road that would lead them towards Phantomhive Mansion.  
While Ciel rubbed his wrists and thoughtfully looked out of the window, Annie slowly shifted and looked up at Sebastian who was sitting close next to her. Carefully she sat up and placed a hand on his cheek. "You should be dead—"she breathed still confused. He smiled and took her hand, placed it gently down again but didn't let go of her.

"I told you—I'm one hell of a butler," he winked and chuckled. Annie's gaze drifted to Ciel and she was certain that she saw the hint of a smile on the boy's face.

Wouldn't she be so exhausted and in pain she would ask what had happened at all, but she simply sighed and placed her head against Sebastian's shoulder. She didn't even hesitate to seek the warmth of his body and soon drifted off into deep sleep.


	7. Why do I care?

Next time Annie woke up she found herself in her bed. The curtains were still closed. She slowly turned around, a sudden pain shot into her stomach and she groaned. After several seconds she managed to grab her watch and check it. She had no idea if it was two in the afternoon or two in the night, but it didn't matter. She was too exhausted to get up, the pain in her stomach was still too immense and her head was pounding.

A soft knock came from the door. "Whosthere?" she mumbled sleepily and carefully turned onto her back again as the door opened and Lizzy entered. "You're awake!" she squealed which caused Annie to groan again.

"Please, Lizzy—be a bit quieter," she grumbled and signaled her to enter the room. The girl went to the curtains and opened them a bit which also answered her previous question. It was definitely two in the afternoon as the bright sun shone into the room.

"Shall I tell Sebastian to prepare some tea for you?" Lizzy asked and lowered on the edge of the bed. Annie watched her blankly until she finally replied,

"No—it's fine. Don't bother him with my problems."

"We were all concerned. Did—did they hurt you badly?"

"Kicked my stomach, I guess some rips are bruised. My head is pounding and—if the phone wouldn't have rang—that bastard might have raped me," she replied with a tear rolling down her cheek.

Lizzy gasped and took Annie's hand. "That's awful! Oh, it's good that the police came to rescue you!"

Annie frowned. "P—police?"

"Yes, of course! Who else would be able to take out kidnappers?" the girl said with a smile. "You seem to be still too confused. I should let you sleep a while longer. You can use this button here to signal the kitchen that you need something," she said and gestured to a button on the night-table.

"Thank you, Lizzy. Is—is Ciel alright?"

"Yes, he's fine. As grumpy as always though," her gaze lowered but a smile popped up on her face. "I should go and check on him. I will visit you later again!" And with that the blonde girl jumped down from the bed and left the room, slamming the door shut. Annie's gaze drifted to the ceiling, more confused than before.

The image of Sebastian getting hit by all those bullets came back before her inner eye. His motionless body in a puddle of blood and yet he rose up again. He rose up, as if nothing had happen with the bullets in his hands. That was impossible. No one would survive such an attack, no one would get hit in the head twice and survive. He was no mere butler, she knew it. He even told her that during their dance. A multi-talent that was what he said and yet she couldn't believe that this was all. Was he some kind of—superman? Annie shook her head to get his image out of her mind and closed her eyes again. She would get answers soon, now that he had a lot more to explain to her.

* * *

"Which tea did you bring today? It smells like—Darjeeling?" Ciel watched his butler curiously as he poured a cup of dark brown tea.

"It is, indeed, a composition of Darjeeling with the hint of lotus. I prepared chocolate cake or scones with a relish of raspberries," Sebastian offered him both plates. Ciel stared blankly at the delicacies and finally took the chocolate cake. Silently he lifted a piece on his fork and munched it.

"You should bring the scones to Annie," he said once he drowned his cup of tea. "And if she is awake we should interrogate her a bit."

"My Lord, I don't think that's a good idea," Sebastian replied calmly.

"Why?"

"She is injured—"

"And yet she recognized Azzurro from somewhere. I have to know where she saw him before and what she knows about him," Ciel interrupted his butler sharply.

"You could just give her time to recover before you ask her all these questions—"

Ciel sighed heavily and rubbed his temples. "Time—time is flying."

"It is, and yet she is still injured. She needs rest—"

"Do I sense concern in your voice? What's wrong with you?" Ciel looked up at his butler.

Sebastian calmly took the empty plate and placed it on the cart as well as the cup of tea. "I don't know what you mean," he replied and watched the young boy blankly. Ciel shifted and hid a grin. The Butler pushed the cart towards the door but stopped as the boy spoke again,

"You know that she will question you."

"I know—"

"What will you tell her?"

Sebastian sighed. "I don't tend to lie, unlike Humans."

"So you will tell her what you are?"

The Butler turned to watch his Master. "I will—someday."

"_Ciel!"_ Lizzy squealed as she pushed the door open and nearly bumped into Sebastian.

"What's the matter?" Ciel asked annoyed, his head leaned in the palm of his hand.  
The blonde girl smiled brightly. "I wanted to make sure that you are fine! Oh, Annie woke up!"

"How is she?" Sebastian asked and earned another surprised look by his Master. The Butler ignored that and watched Lizzy questioningly.

"She's weak and her stomach hurts. I told her to sleep but I'm certain a cup of tea will help a bit."

"Yes, Sebastian. Go and bring her tea and those scones," Ciel added. The butler didn't miss the hint of amusement in the boy's voice.

He bowed. "Yes, my Lord," he replied blankly and left the lounge again.

* * *

Another soft knock came from the door as Annie was just about to drift into sleep again. She mumbled and didn't even care who that might be while her eyes were still closed as the door opened and closed. She could hear the sound of a cart being pushed into the room and she knew immediately that it could only be Sebastian. Her heartbeat increased a bit as she opened her eyes to look up at him.

"How do you feel?" he asked while he poured her a cup of tea. Slowly she sat up, her face a grimace of pain. He approached her and placed his arm around her to help.

"Th—thanks," she mumbled once she sat with her back against the headboard. Sebastian handed her the cup of tea which she took gratefully. "That's delicious," she said with the hint of a smile while she watched him curiously.

"I—I have scones with raspberry relish, if you like," he said and gestured to the plate. Annie hadn't eaten since the kidnapping two days ago and felt how her mouth began to water at the sight of the delicacy on the plate. "I'm starving," she said and chuckled. His lips twitched upwards as he took the plate and handed it to her. He took the cup out of her hands and was about to leave.

"No, stay—"she whispered. He froze for a second until he turned to look at her. The color of his eyes reminded her of a warm chimney as he stepped closer towards her again. Her hand patted on the edge of her bed. The Butler hesitated for a second before he lowered down. Annie picked up the fork and covered the piece of scone with a bit of the relish. Carefully she lifted it up to her lips and finally pushed it into her mouth. She closed her eyes and munched on it. "Mmmh that tastes like heaven" she mumbled and earned an amused look from him.

"Heaven you say? I don't know if that's a compliment or not," he chuckled. She watched him curiously but decided to ignore that statement. She was too weak to ask question to which she would not get any answers at all.

"Let's say this is delicious," she said with a weak smile and continued to eat. Sebastian watched her, uncertain what he should do. "The—curtains. Who opened them?"

"Lizzy, why?"

"They are disheveled," he stated, got up from her bed and approached the window. Facing her with his back he began to rearrange the curtains. Annie couldn't help but giggle quietly.

"What?" he asked and cast a glance over his shoulder. She placed the plate on her lap and watched him amused. "You are so—strange. I mean, one moment you are the charming dancer, then you turn into kind of a—superman rescuing the life of Ciel and me and—and get shot just to arise as if nothing happened and—here you are now, being just a butler worrying about the curtains. It is confusing but also quite amusing."

"You think I'm amusing?" he asked with a smile and turned to look at her again. Annie shrugged and tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear as she cast a shy glance at him. "Somehow, yes—"she replied vaguely.

Sebastian sighed as he approached her again. Carefully he picked the empty plate from her lap and placed it on the cart. "The young Master wanted to ask you some question. I said you still need some rest—"

"What questions?" she asked curiously.

"About Azzurro—but that's not so important now. You should—"

"—no, tell me. What did he want to know?" she interrupted him and signaled him to lower down on the edge of her bed again. Once he sat down he said,

"He said you seemed to recognize Azzurro. He saw some kind of recognition in your eyes."

Annie's gaze drifted to her hands. "That's true. I recognized him. When I was younger, I think I was maybe eight or nine—I saw him in the office of my father at home. I remember that I was afraid of him back then because of his scar. Never did I know he was part of the mafia. Sebastian—"she suddenly grabbed one of his hands which made him wince slightly. "What if my father was involved in the mafia business? What if—if they menace him somehow now?"

"Did Azzurro recognize you?" he asked curiously, unable to pull his hand away.

"No, I don't think so. I mean, I changed a bit," she chuckled and saw a slight smile on his lips though he avoided looking at her. Silence fell upon them and with growing heat in her cheeks she realized that she still clung to his hand.

"Will you ever tell me what happened to you—I mean—"

Sebastian pulled his hand away and got up. "I will—but not now. We have enough time for things like that. You should not care too much about it."

"But I do—"she whispered and blushed heavily. "I'm sorry, I just…"

"I will go now. Call me if you need anything," he replied and finally left her room. With a heavy sigh he leaned against the wall.

'_What's happening with me? Why do I even care about her?' _he thought as he pushed away from the wall, heading down the hallway. He still had other things to do. Dinner wouldn't prepare on its own.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for all those wonderful reviews! That encourages me a lot! :) **


	8. It's our secret

On the next day Annie was able to get up again, but the doctor had forbidden her to work for at least one more week. She felt more than bored by staying just in bed and so she dressed herself with the help of Lizzy. Unfortunately the girl had to leave the mansion for a while again which made Annie feel a bit lonely.

"I will come back soon, I promise!" Lizzy said outside the mansion and placed a kiss on Annie's cheek before she finally climbed into the carriage. Once the carriage was out of sight, Annie decided to take a little walk through the garden. It was a warm autumn day and she enjoyed the soft breeze playing with her hair.

As she arrived the Japanese style rock garden in the courtyard she lowered down on a bench and closed her eyes. With a smile she smelled the scent of the nearby bush of roses, the wind rustling in the trees and a group of birds happily chirping somewhere above her. Suddenly something brushed against her leg and made her frown. She opened her eyes and looked down just to be greeted by a quiet "Meow" from a black cat which had a white blaze on its forehead. The cat looked up at her and meowed again.

"Hey, little kitty. Oh, you are such a beautiful thing," Annie said amazed and bent down as far as she could without pain and ruffled the cat's head. It purred and pressed its head against the palm of Annie's hand before it jumped up on her lap. Annie giggled and continued to stroke the cat.

"I'm curious if I'm able to bring you into the mansion," she whispered and smiled at the cat. She cast a glance around and added, "Why not, huh? Come, we'll smuggle you to my room. I will talk to Ciel later," she signaled the cat to slip under her coat. Carefully she entered the mansion again and walked up the flight of stairs and along the hallway leading to her room.

Sebastian just left the lounge and approached her. "Do you need anything?" he asked as he stopped in front of her. She cast a glance along the hallway and over her shoulder before she leaned in closer to him. He gulped and bent down a bit as well. "I have to show you something," she whispered mysteriously and stepped away from him.

"And what might that be?" he asked curiously and watched her passing by to approach her room. "I will show you in my room. Come on—"she signaled him to follow her. He sighed and followed her into her room. He closed the door and watched her confused.  
"So? What's there you want to—" he began but fell silent on instant as she opened her coat and revealed the cat. He blinked multiple times, his face a mixture of confusion and absolute amazement.

Annie chuckeld. "Are you alright?" she asked and stepped closer to him, the cat still on her arm. The butler seemed to ignore her completely as he stepped towards her and began to stroke the cat.

"Look at her beauty—"he breathed. "And those tiny paws—"he added and played with the cat's paw, made it reveal its claws.

Annie giggled and turned away from him to place the cat on her bed. Sebastian was tempted to just lie down on the bed and play with the cat. His gaze drifted to Annie. "Where did you get her?" he asked and stepped closer to her bed.

"Found her in the courtyard. I thought maybe Ciel might allow me to—"

"—no he won't. I wish he would because cats are my favorite animals."

"I can see that," she chuckled while she watched his still stunned face. "But why wouldn't he allow it?"

"He's allergic to cats," he simply replied and finally found the guts to sit down on the bed as well to play with the cat. Annie turned away as a tickling grew in her stomach.

'_That's just my bruised ripcage'_ she thought and walked towards the window to cast a glance outside. The cat meowed which made Sebastian chuckle. "Oh, you're such a beauty. I wish I could keep you—"

"Hey, I found her," Annie turned and watched him teasingly. "She would be mine."

"We could share her," he suggested with a smile.

She approached him and lowered down next to him. "Too bad we can't keep her," she mumbled and stroked the cat as well. Her fingertips gently brushed his gloved hand for a second and made her look up into his eyes. She blushed a bit but finally found a heart to ask,

"Sebastian—that dress I wore at the ball. Did _you_ buy it?"

He lowered his gaze to watch the cat before he replied, "What if I did?"

"Then I'd like to know why."

"I just thought you might need a suitable dress for a ball like this."

"How did you know I hadn't bought a suitable dress during our day in London?"

He chuckled quietly. "I'm sorry—but I put your new clothes in the wardrobe and therefore I could see that you didn't buy one."

Annie blushed. "Oh—yes, you're right. I nearly forgot about that. Uhm—well, it seems I have to thank you."

"It's nothing, really."

"It _is_! No one ever bought such a beautiful dress for me," she said quietly and turned to avoid his eye-contact.

He cleared his throat and got up, the cat pressed against his chest. "I will set her free again."

"Can I come with you?"

A smile curled his lips as he nodded shortly. Annie followed him down the hallway and to the outer courtyard. They stood silent for a couple of moments; Sebastian still held the cat close to his body.

"You should put her down now," Annie chuckled and took the cat carefully out of his arms to place it down. It meowed and brushed along their legs. Sebastian's eyes grew even warmer and Annie could see he was tempted to pick it up again.

"You're too cute," she chuckled as the cat finally ran down the stairs and vanished into the forest. Sebastian's gaze drifted to Annie. "You think I'm cute?" he asked amused.

"Uhm—"she blushed and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Are you—hungry?" he asked to change the topic. He felt quite nervous which left him more than confused. She smiled at him and nodded. "Yes, what's there for dinner?"

"Roast turkey with dressing and potatoes. As a side dish there are green peas and carrots. As a dessert I created citrus ice with cherry compote."

"Sounds delicious. Can I get some now? Or do I have to wait until Ciel got his dinner?"

"You're not working and therefore you're allowed to eat now. Come, I'll prepare a plate for you," he offered her his arm. She stared at him before she linked her arm with his.

Together they entered the kitchen and much to her surprise he prepared two plates. "I don't think I can eat that much," she chuckled and felt the sweet tickle again as he laughed.

"Well, to be honest, I'm hungry as well. Let's say this is our little secret dinner," he winked and placed the plates on the table.

She smiled and watched him lowering down across from her. "Fine. Just you and me," she whispered and made him chuckle again.

"Just you and me."

* * *

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this little chapter. If so…pleeeease leave a review! To all of those who already left reviews on this story: Thank you so, so much for your encouragement! It makes me happy to hear you like this! **


	9. Checkmate

"I hope you changed your clothes, Sebastian," Ciel watched his butler carefully as he entered the dining room with the cart filled with roast turkey, potatoes and dressing as well as green peas and carrots. Also a bowl with the citrus ice with cherry compote was on the cart.

The butler sent a confused look towards Ciel as he placed the plates on the table. "I think I don't—"

"Don't make a fool of me, Sebastian. You know exactly what I am talking about. I have seen you in the garden with the cat."

"I told Annie that cats are not allowed in here and so I set her free again. And, to answer your question, I did change my clothes."

Ciel nodded and picked a piece of meat on his fork and watched it for a second before he pushed it into his mouth. Thoughtfully he munched on it while his gaze drifted back to Sebastian. Once he swallowed it he shifted a bit and said,

"I recognized that you seek her closeness quite often. What was that at the ball?"

Sebastian tilted his head a bit. "At the ball? It was a dance, young Master. Nothing more. A dance to cheer her up."

"You don't tend to cheer anyone up, Sebastian. Don't lie to me. What is your intention?" Ciel placed the fork down and sipped at his tea. His eye was still fixed on the butler and Sebastian stepped towards the window to cast a glance outside.

"I have no intentions, my Lord. She is part of the household and therefore it's my task to make her feel—"

"Sebastian—"Ciel sighed a little annoyed. "You don't care about the feelings of Humans. You don't care about the feelings of any other member of my household. Why Annie?"

"It seems that is a question I cannot answer, young Master," he finally turned to look at Ciel again. The boy frowned and got up. "I'm not hungry anymore. Clean this up and do whatever you want. I'll read for a while in the lounge. Oh and—bring Annie to me."

"Why?"

"Since when do you question my order?" Ciel cocked an eyebrow. "Just bring her to the lounge in, let's say—," he checked his pocket-watch, "In one hour."

"Yes, my Lord," Sebastian left the room with the cart and made his way down to the kitchen. He saw that Ciel hadn't tasted the ice with the cherry compote. He smiled and placed the bowl aside on the table while he began to clean the rest of the dishes. Once he finished it he took the bowl and headed back upstairs.

Gently he knocked against the wooden door and waited patiently for a response. Just as he heard a shuffle on the other side of the door he began to question himself what he was doing. Before he could turn and leave the door opened and a pair of bright, green eyes watched him surprised.

"Sebastian? What—what are you doing here?" Annie mumbled and rubbed her eyes.

"Did I wake you up?" he asked and stepped a bit closer. She chuckled and looked up at him as she replied,

"To be honest—yes. Though I didn't sleep very deeply. Just a little nap, you know. After that delicious dinner earlier," she smiled at him and he knew—would he have a heart in his chest, it would definitely leap in this very second.

"I—brought you this—"he offered her the bowl with ice. "The young Master didn't taste it and I remembered how much you liked it and—and I thought it would be a shame to just throw it away—", his voice faded and saw that she simply blinked at him with an expression on her face he could not read at all and added hastily, "But maybe it was a stupid idea. I'm sorry for interrupting your nap," he was just about to turn and leave as she stepped closer and gently took the bowl out of his hands.

"I'd love to eat this. There's always some space for ice," she patted her stomach and giggled quietly. A smile flashed over his face as she turned to enter her room again. He stepped into the doorway, uncertain if he should enter or not and decided to just stop in the middle of the door.

"The young Master wishes to see you in one hour in the lounge."

"He doeff?" she mumbled with her mouth full of cherry compote and cast a glance at him while she sat on the edge of her bed.

"Yes, but I don't know why. Maybe he wants to talk with you about—Azzurro," he said and drove his hand through his hair while he avoided looking longer than necessary at her. Only a cat could be more adorable than Annie eating a bowl of ice.

'_You really have to stop this! Whatever you think might happen—it has no future!'_ he chided himself.

"You know, you can enter if you want," Annie chuckled as she saw him awkwardly standing in the doorway.

"Oh, no—no, I have to—do something," he turned but stopped again as he felt her presence so close behind him.

"Well, then you can take the bowl. I finished it," she handed him the empty bowl and smiled again though a slight blush was clearly visible on her face. Sebastian chuckled and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and carefully cleaned the corner of her mouth which was a bit covered with cherry compote. She blushed even more but mumbled a 'thank you'.

"I will return and accompany you to the lounge later," he said hastily and finally turned to leave. He knew she watched after him but he kept on walking. _'Don't look back. Just go—'_

* * *

Once he reached the kitchen he cleaned the bowl and leaned against the counter. A heavy sigh left his throat when suddenly a scratching sound came from the window. He frowned and stepped toward it just to see the black cat outside. He smiled brightly and opened the window carefully to let her slip in.

"My, my, you really seem to like this place. Are you hungry?" he ruffled the cat's head and prepared a plate with the meat-leftovers and a little bowl of milk. He placed it down on the floor and knelt in front of her, watched her amazed while she sneaked towards the food and carefully began to eat.

"I could sit here for the rest of the day and watch you, you amazing creature. My world has pets as well, you know? But they are not the same," he whispered bitterly and smiled as she meowed while she nipped from the milk.

"Oh, she's back?" a voice spoke up behind him and made him turn around. Annie approached him, her hair bound back into a ponytail and dressed in black pants and a dark-red tunic. She knelt down next to him and ruffled the cat's soft fur. The cat purred and hastily swallowed the meat.

Sebastian chuckled. "Now, now. You don't have to eat so quickly. There's plenty."

After a long silence in which they both simply watched the cat he said, "Cats are good. They don't talk about unnecessary things or do them. They're cuter than anything else."

"I never thought about it like that, but you have a point. Cats are so independent. You can't teach them to obey you. They simply do things if they choose to. I wish I'd be like that."

"I think you are quite independent," he cast a quick glance at her and smiled. Annie sighed and picked the cat up on her arms. "And yet I was sent here. It was not my decision. I had to do what my parents told me to do."

"Don't you enjoy your stay?" he asked curiously and gently stroked the cat which was pressed close against her.

"You mean despite being kidnapped and nearly raped? Oh, yes I do enjoy my stay," she chuckled and got up to lean against the kitchen counter. Sebastian stood in front of her, his eyes fixed on the cat with a warm smile curling his lips. Carefully he took the paw of the cat and squeezed it gently, made her release her claws.

"Her paw is so tender—"he breathed amazed and Annie offered him to take the cat. "Oh, well, I have to change my dress again after that but—I can't resist," he took the cat on his arms and nuzzled his face into her soft fur.

"I wish I could remain like this forever," he mumbled and cast a glance at the clock hanging on the wall. "But sadly, we have to leave now," he signaled Annie to open the window again. The cat reluctantly jumped outside and meowed one last time before Annie closed the window again.

"I'm a bit afraid," she said while they left the kitchen and headed upstairs again. She had linked her arm with his because the pain was back in her rip-cage and had to be steadied a bit.

"Afraid of what?" he asked as they stopped in front of her room. She stepped away from him and replied,

"What Ciel might want from me. I mean, I can't give him any more answers. All I know is that that man seems to be dangerous and that my father might be involved into some business with him or his corporation."

"That corporation is called mafia," Sebastian replied softly.

She nodded slowly. "Yes, you're right. I still pretend that my parents have anything to do with people like him. It makes it easier for me to say he's working for a corporation," her voice faded off and Sebastian could see a twinkle in her eyes which was a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Uhm—you should change your clothes before we go to the lounge. I have to—I will be right back," he turned and moved down the hallway to enter his room. Annie sighed and stepped into hers to change her tunic into a green one. A couple of moments later she stepped outside and nearly bumped into him.

"Ready?" he asked with a smile and offered his arm to her. She nodded silently and let him lead her to the lounge though she already knew the way on her own but she was aware that she enjoyed his closeness more and more with each day passing.

Finally they reached the lounge and entered together. "My Lord, Annie came just like you ordered," the butler said and saw an amused twitch of the young Master's lips as he watched the butler and the girl arm in arm entering the lounge.

* * *

"Good evening, Ciel," she said and smiled uncertainly as she saw him sitting in one of the comfy armchairs, a table in front of him with a set of chess.

"Good evening, Annie. Take a seat," he gestured at the second armchair and Annie lowered down across from him. Her hands fumbled nervously with the chain of her pocket-watch while she stared at the chess-board. "How do you feel?" he asked and made her look at him again.

"Oh, I'm fine, thank you. My rips still hurt sometimes but I hope that I'm able to work again in a couple of days," she replied and glanced at Sebastian who stood silently next to her. Ciel nodded and shifted a bit, "Sebastian, would you bring us some tea?"

"Yes, my Lord," the butler bowed and left the lounge again.

"Did you ever play chess, Annie?" Ciel asked curiously and gestured at the chess-board between them. The girl shook her head and smiled confused at him. "I learned a lot from my tutor at home, but chess was never part of my tuition."

"That's fine. I can teach you," he said and lifted the king. "This is the king. He's the one you have to trap to win the game."

"Sounds easy so far," she chuckled and lifted a pawn. "I think I know that these are called pawns, right?"

"Exactly," he nodded and took a pawn as well. "If you move it the first time you can move it forward one or two spaces."

"And after that?" she asked curiously, trying to keep all these rules in mind.

"Only one space after that. They can't move backwards and it's just allowed to attack the other's pieces one space diagonally from it."

Ciel continued to explain each piece until Sebastian returned with the tray of tea and two cups. He poured the tea and handed them both their cups. Annie smiled thankfully and sipped from the tea before she placed the cup aside. "Alright, I am ready if you are," she said determined and grinned cheekily at Ciel. Sebastian watched them confused and Annie explained, "Master Ciel invited me to play chess."

"Then maybe I should warn you that the young Master doesn't like to lose."

Ciel huffed. "I just don't like to lose against people using cheap tricks," he cast a glance towards his butler. Sebastian grinned and stepped towards a shelf to pick up a violin. He began to play a soft tune and Annie was distracted right away. Ciel cast a quick glance at her and saw her admiring his butler. "Annie? It's your turn," he said and pulled her out of her daze.

"Oh," she blushed and tried to concentrate on the game again. She stared at the board until she moved a pawn one space forward. They continued the game for at least two hours. Sebastian had stopped playing music a while ago and leaned against the window, his gaze drifted from the chess board to Annie. He saw how concentrated she was, willing to win the game and he could see that she was on a good way to do so.

Annie felt very tired already and just wanted the game to stop. Without much tactic she placed a pawn forward and heard a chuckle from Sebastian. She cast a questioning glance at him.

"Well done, now he's in check," he said with a wink and made her look at Ciel, afraid of his reaction. The young Master simply stared at the board and back at her, a pleased smile on his face. "That was a good game, Annie. We should stop for today. You look tired. Sebastian, accompany her back. I await you in the bedroom."

"Yes, my Lord," the butler said and offered her his arm again. She linked it with hers and wished Ciel a good night and thanked him for the game.

"Impressive that you put him in check even without knowing what you were doing at all," Sebastian chuckled as they reached her room again.

"It was fun, but I just wanted it to end now. I am so tired," she yawned behind her hand and smiled at him. They held gaze for several moments and Annie could hear her blood rushing in her ears.

"Annie—would you turn around for a second?" he said and earned a confused look. "Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"I just—would like to try something."

She hesitated for a second but finally obeyed and turned to face him with her back. Her heart leaped as she felt his hands gently opening her ponytail. Her long, blonde mane waved gracefully over her shoulder and reached down to the middle of her spine. She turned around to face him again and he had to restrain himself not to gasp.

"And now?" she whispered.

"You should wear it like this instead of the ponytail," he replied with a warm smile. "It frames your face like a precious painting—"his voice trailed off as he was aware of what he had just said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

She blinked and stared at him, unable to react. _'Did he really just say that? What should I do now? Do something, Annie!' _

Carefully she stepped closer and tiptoed a bit. Her lips touched his cheek for just a brief moment and yet he could still feel them after she stepped away from him. "Thank you, Sebastian. For that wonderful day," she mumbled and blushed heavily.

"Anytime, Annie," he replied softly and watched her entering her room. With a last quick glance at him she closed the door. Absently his hand rose to his face while his fingertips lingered on the spot she had kissed just mere moments before.

'_This isn't really happening. This is impossible,' _he thought and sighed heavily as he returned to the Master's bedroom.


	10. Let me comfort you

A couple of days later Annie could finally start working again and she never felt happier about going to work than today. Though she had enjoyed her free time, but it was also quite boring. Except the hours she had spent with Sebastian.

She made a quick wash, put her uniform on and brushed her long hair.

_'You should wear it like this instead of a ponytail. It frames your face like a precious painting.'_

She smiled as she remembered Sebastian's words a few days ago. Quietly she checked her pocket-watch and was aware that it was nearly six in the morning. Quickly she left her room and headed downstairs to the kitchen, where she found the three servants, Tanaka and the butler already gathered around the table. Sebastian was just about to give them their chores for the day and stopped for a moment as Annie slipped silently into the room and stopped next to Mey-Rin who smiled brightly at her, so did Finny and Bard.

"Still on time," she stated with a cheeky grin and pointed at the clock on the wall which just now showed sharp six. The butler lowered his gaze for a second before he looked into her eyes again. "Indeed, congratulations," he replied with a teasing smile on his face. She held his gaze for several seconds until he cleared his throat and let his gaze drift over all of them again as he continued,

"Well, it's nearly time to begin. We don't expect any guests today so it should be relaxing. Mey-Rin, you will service the linens. Finny, you will trim the trees in the garden and Bard, you will take care of the lunch preparations, please."

The three servants saluted and ran off to do their chores. Tanaka still sat silently at the table and drank his tea. Annie never really understood his secret or his tasks at all, but she liked him.

"Uhm...what are my chores for today?" she asked carefully and watched Sebastian expectantly.

"It's your first day of work again. I wish-you should prepare the tea for our young Master, while I make his breakfast," he said and put a pan on the oven and rummaged in the kitchen.

"You let me prepare his tea? I thought the life of Ciel is too precious, so only you are able to prepare all his meals including the tea," she stepped closer towards him and sent him a teasing smile. Sebastian didn't really look at her as he replied calmly,

"I trust you and I know that you won't use fire to boil the water. Now, go on-I already prepared everything you need. Just use it," he gently pushed her to the kitchen counter where she took the tea-pot and filled it with water. She put it on the oven and waited patiently until the water would boil.

In the meantime, she watched Sebastian cooking sunny-side eggs, salmon, bacon and toast for Ciel. He cast a quick glance at her, one strand of his raven black hair fell in front of his eyes and she hastily turned away as she felt a sweet tickling in her stomach again. Much to her relief the pot whistled just in that very second, so she took it from the oven and let some tea-leafs drop into it, which Sebastian had already placed in a small bowl for her to use.

"What kind of tea is that?" she asked curiously and looked at him again.

"It's Assam freshly imported from India," he explained as he arranged the breakfast on the cart. "So, let's get moving. We have to wake our young Master."

"And you think it's a good idea if I join you? I mean-you'll dress him up, won't you?" she asked uncertainly and took the tray. Sebastian chuckled and gestured her to follow him. "He doesn't sleep naked," he replied amused and saw her blushing a bit so he added, "You'll simply place the tea on the night-table and I'll do the rest. You will take your leave and help Mey-Rin a bit with the linens for a while."

She nodded and said merrily, "It feels so good to be back at work."

He smiled and stopped in front of Ciel's bedroom. "And I am glad to work with someone again who's not messing up the chores," he pushed the door open.

* * *

"Thank you, Annie," Ciel mumbled still quite sleepily as she placed the tray with the tea-pot and the single cup next to him on his night-table. She cast a glance at Sebastian who gave her a short nod to signal that she could leave. She bowed towards the young Master and walked towards the door again. Once she was gone Ciel looked questioningly at his butler who stared absently at the door.

"I suppose that is enough tea," he stated. Sebastian looked back at him and realized that the cup was already overflowing. He looked quite surprised as he saw the mess he just made and revealed a second cup from the cart and poured tea into it. Once he handed it to Ciel he bowed and said, "I am sorry for that mess, young Master. It seems-"

"It seems your mind was not where it should have been," Ciel stated with a blank expression while he nipped at his tea.

"Once again I'm sorry," Sebastian mumbled and pulled Ciel's attire out of the wardrobe. "Today you don't have any tasks. Do you have plans?"

Ciel placed the cup down as one corner of his mouth twitched upwards. "Sebastian?"

"Yes?"

"I think I fell in love with Annie," Ciel said and bit back a teasing smile to watch his butler's reaction. Sebastian froze for a moment and stared at his young Master quite in shock. Seeing his butler like this amused the young boy simply too much and broke out into laughter. "Oh, you should see your face! There's no need to be jealous, Sebastian."

"Who say I am?" the butler replied and stepped towards the bed again to help Ciel get dressed. While he knelt in front of him to button the boy's shirt up he avoided to look into his eye. "I never thought someone like you would be able to fall in love," Ciel suddenly mumbled quite thoughtfully.

"It is impossible and there is no need to talk about such things now, my Lord," Sebastian tried to avoid a talk like that. 'Is it really impossible? Just because it never happened before does it really mean it would never happen? Why do I feel so warm whenever she's around me? Why do I feel such a strange twitching in my chest whenever I look upon her face? Is that love? No, it can't be-' the butler thought, his mind plagued with all those strange new questions, his body filled with all these strange new feelings.

"You're always so proud about the fact that you never lie. That you always speak the truth. I think that is rare for someone like you. Why should 'love' be so impossible for you then? I mean, let us take a quick look at the previous weeks. You seek her closeness very much, you bought that dress with the mask and the shoes for her, you danced with her, you rescued her life-"

"Mainly I rescued your life, you should never forget that-" Sebastian protested but Ciel cut him off,

"You cared for her a lot the past week while she was unable to work. And now, just a couple of minutes ago, you messed up pouring tea for the first time we know each other just because your gaze followed her outside this room. And now, Sebastian, tell me again that you are not falling in love with her."

"I am not falling in love with her," Sebastian replied with a blank expression and finished dressing him. "Today's breakfast contains of-"

"Sorry for interrupting, but-the post was delivered and I don't know where to put it," Annie had just entered the room again with an uncertain look. Sebastian stepped towards her, feeling the gaze of his Master lying on him, and took the envelopes from her. The tips of their fingers brushed for a second. He cleared his throat and cast a glance back at Ciel who sat at the breakfast table and hid another amused grin.

"It's alright, I will handle that. What happened to your hair?" he asked as he saw hair wet hair-ends. Annie blushed and smiled at him as she said, "That-oh that is nothing."

"Mey-Rin?" he asked curiously with a knowing smile. She nodded but hastily added, "She didn't break anything! I found her in the library trying to clean the linens with a bit too much detergent. She used thirty instead of three spoonful of it. But, don't you worry about it. I cleaned it up and the linens should be fine as well," she reassured him with a smile.

"Well, I'd say you check on Finny and Bard now. Make sure they don't mess their tasks as well," he finally said. Annie nodded shortly and left the room. Before the door was completely closed she overheard Ciel as he said teasingly, "Seems she's the only one in my household today not messing their tasks."

"I apologized twice, my Lord. I can't do any more than apologize again."

She frowned and finally headed back downstairs, curious what might have happened. Could Sebastian, the perfect butler, really mess any of his tasks? She shook her head and stepped outside into the garden and squealed in shock.

* * *

"What on earth happened?" she asked as Finny came running towards her with tears in his eyes. He clung to her and cried out,

"Oh, please! Please, don't tell Sebastian! He will kill me this time for sure!"

Annie chuckled and ruffled Finny's hair as she replied, "Don't worry, my lips are sealed. Now tell me how could you destroy all those beautiful bushes and trees?"

"I-I forgot that the herbicide dispenser has been broken since yesterday. Oh, Annie! What should I do? Sebastian will find out and then he will-"

"He won't do anything that harms you. Calm down," she chuckled and tried to come up with a solution. "Well, I suppose the only thing we can do is get new trees and plant them."

"I don't have enough money to get new trees. Sebastian is giving me money when I need to buy new plants," the boy sniffled and brushed tears from his eyes. Annie sighed and turned to look up towards the mansion. "Fine, I will talk to him. Maybe if I tell him what happened he won't be too mad with you."

"You would do that for me? Why?" Finny asked amazed and watched her with wide eyes. She shrugged and sent a warm smile at him as she replied,

"I suppose I like you. You may be a bit scatterbrained but you're a good boy and therefore I have to make sure you stay happy."

"Oh Annie! Thank you so much! Good luck with Sebastian!" he swung his arms around her and placed a kiss on her cheek. She chuckled and headed back into the mansion where she immediately went to search for the butler.  
He might still be upstairs with Ciel, so she took the flight of stairs and checked the dining room just to find it empty. Also the lounge was unoccupied until she heard muffled voices coming from Ciel's study. She gulped as she remembered the last time she entered upon hearing noises coming from there. It ended up being kidnapped and nearly raped. Carefully she moved closer to the door and tried to hear who was talking. As she heard the Master and his Butler she sighed in relief and knocked gently at the door.

"Come in," Ciel's voice spoke up and Annie entered. She sent a shy smile at Sebastian as she signaled him to come closer. Once he stood close in front of her she said, "Finny-he needs money."

"What for?" he asked curiously and saw she became quite nervous. She began to shift uncomfortably and cast a glance at Ciel who watched them quite amused though his head leaned against the palm of his hand just as if he was annoyed about something. Annie leaned in closer to Sebastian. She wasn't aware that he shuddered slightly as her hot breath touched his ear as she whispered,

"He destroyed the trees in the garden. It was an accident, clearly, but he needs money to buy new trees."

Sebastian sighed heavily and rubbed his temples. "Once again I wonder why we hired him. I will handle that-" he wanted to walk past her but she placed her hand on his chest to stop him. He stared down at her hand and back at her. She blushed even more and let her hand drop again as she said, "I will handle that. You could give me some money and I will give it to him. Please, he's really sorry about it and making a scene won't help him the slightest."

He looked upon her face for a moment; his crimson eyes found her emerald ones. "Fine, but tell him if something like that happens again he has to deal with me," he sighed and reached into his tailcoat-pocket to reveal a bag of money. He dropped it into the palm of her hand and smiled. "Once you're done with that-you should return to your room."

"I should? Why?" she asked confused.

"A letter arrived for you. But first go and bring Finny the money. I will put the letter on your table," he replied and turned her around and gently pushed her out of the study.

_'A letter? For me? Maybe my parents wrote one. Do they plan to take me back home? More importantly...do I want to go back home at all?'_ she asked herself while heading downstairs again.  
Once she gave Finny the money and managed to get away from his hugs and kisses she chuckled and went back upstairs. While she walked along the hallway she thought with growing head in her cheeks about the short moment she had stopped Sebastian with her hand on his chest. And just by now, while entering her room, she realized that something felt strange about it.

She hadn't felt a single heartbeat under the palm of her hand.

* * *

_'My dear child,_

_I am so sorry that we have to put you through all this. I hope that Master Phantomhive treats you well just like we imagined he would. How do you like the work of a servant? Did you make friends already with your colleagues? Your father and I miss you very much, my dear! _

_We both hope that our problems are solved soon. Your father made business with the wrong people. That could have happened to everyone and yet it happened to us. I never thought it would. _

_My dear Annie, never forget that we love you! At least, you are safe._

_If you decide to write a letter back, make sure you don't put your name anywhere on it. No one should know who we are writing to nor where you are. _

_With much love,_

_Mother & father'_

Annie dropped her hand that was holding the letter onto her lap and closed her eyes. She felt how hot tears began to wet her eyes and once she blinked one single drop found its way down along her cheek.

She did not know how often she had read these lines now. Her gaze drifted to the window and with shock she saw that it must be later afternoon already. But no one seemed to try and get her. Maybe Sebastian knew that this letter might be from her parents and that she might need some time to be alone with her plagued mind. And yet she wished he would be there and hold her for a while, just to comfort her with the heat of his body.

She picked her pocket-watch and opened it. Thoughtfully her fingertip touched the portrait of her parents with her on her mother's lap. A smile curled her lips but her eyes grew wide in shock as she saw that it was already seven in the evening. Dinner must have been served already. She hid the letter in the night-table and headed out of her room and down into the kitchen. No one was there and so she slumped down on a chair and leaned her head into the palms of her hands. She felt so alone in this very moment. Each company would have been better than being alone. No matter if Finny, Bard, Mey-Rin or even Tanaka who never even spoke at all. Most of all she wished for Sebastian to join her.

Suddenly a hand was gently placed on her shoulder and made her wince. She looked up surprised and dived into those beautiful eyes again.

"S—Sebastian? I'm so sorry for being late—"she began but he cut her off immediately with a soft smile on his face as he said,

"There's no need to apologize. You received message from your parents and I figured you might need some time alone. Like I said in the morning, today is a relaxed day more or less so—you didn't miss anything important at all."

He began to put the used dishes into the sink and began to wash them. Annie watched him curiously and frowned again.

"You messed up a task today, didn't you?" she asked and saw his surprised face as he turned to look at her again.

"Nothing too serious. I spilled some tea while pouring it into the cup in the morning."

"Oh, I already thought you might have broken a plate or a cup," she giggled and got up to approach him. "I am glad that you are here now. I felt quite alone."

"If you need to talk about the letter—"

"No, actually it was a proof that my parents are still alive. That relieved me a lot but now I am once again questioning myself who my father made business with. My mother wrote he did it with the wrong people. What if he made business with someone like Azzurro? With the mafia. Though if he did I am certain they tricked my father. He would have never made business with the mafia of his own will."

Sebastian nodded slowly and put the dishes aside. "You look like you might need some distraction from your grave thoughts."

"And what's on your mind?" she asked amused and saw that he took a bowl, a whisk, a chopping board, a knife and some different food like chocolate, milk and sugar and placed it on the kitchen counter. He turned to look at her and smiled as he entered the pantry just to return with two white aprons. He handed her one and undressed out of his black tailcoat.

Annie stared at him while he placed the apron around his waist and tightened it behind his back. "Do you need help?" he asked as he saw her staring uncertainly and surprised. She winced and was pulled out of her thoughts.

"Oh, no—uhm—"she mumbled and placed the apron around her waist as well. Once it was tightened she looked at him again.

"Now I thought we could cook together," he finally explained and handed her a knife. Annie had never cooked a meal before and stood uncomfortably in front of the butler with a knife in her hand. Sebastian chuckled and gestured her to step to the counter where he had placed the chocolate on the cutting board.

"Relax, I will help if you need it. Look, first you have to shred the milk-and dark couverture chocolate. Like this—"he stepped up behind her, gently took her hand which was holding the knife and began to move it carefully up and down on the chocolate. Annie's heart was racing maniacally in her chest as she felt his warm breath touching the back of her neck.

"A—alright, I think I got it," she said after a couple of moments and began to shred the chocolate on her own. Sebastian smiled and stepped away from her. While she continued cutting he took a pot and filled it with cream to heat it on the oven.

"That should be enough now," he stepped closer again. Annie placed the knife away and watched him questioningly.

"And now?" she asked while he let the chopped chocolate drop into a bowl and filled it with heated water. He handed her the bowl and a whisk and replied with an amused smile,

"Now you will whisk this until the cream in the pot there is warm enough to be added."

"Alright," she chuckled and began to whisk in the bowl. It was harder than she had thought and soon her arm felt quite tired. "How long do I have to whisk? Is the cream cooking already?" she mumbled and looked pleadingly up at him.

"Just one more minute. It has to be smooth," he chuckled and checked the cream in the pot. Once it was boiling he took it and signaled Annie to stop for a second. He let the cream flow into the bowl and Annie began to whisk again, this time with her left hand which was not quite useful. She huffed and grumbled which made his chest twitch again. Carefully he stepped towards her and wrapped his gloved fingers around her wrist.

"Hold the bowl tight," he whispered behind her and together they started to whisk again for a while. Finally he grabbed a bottle of Cointreau and added a bit into it. After what seemed to be a life-time the chocolate cream was ready to cool down a bit.

Sebastian had created dough which was also baking in the oven for a while now. Annie leaned against the kitchen counter and giggled. "This is the first time I ever cooked something. Though most of the time you helped me, but it makes so much fun."

"I'm glad I could distract you from your sad thoughts," he replied while he stood next to her and looked down into her eyes again. "And—and you are quite skilled in the kitchen. I have to say that I had fun as well."

She smiled brightly up at him and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. He blinked multiple times as a wave of strange new emotions washed over him, nearly overwhelmed him. He felt the strange urge to lean down and seal her lips with his. He was even more shocked as he was aware that he was already on the way doing it and much to his surprise she didn't back away.

With one last heavy breath he closed his eyes, so did she, but they never got to touch as the kitchen door swung open. Hastily the butler and the maid jumped a bit away from each other and stared at the blonde girl standing in the doorway with the brightest smile on her face as she squealed,

"Anniiiiiiie! I'm back!" She swung her arms around the other's neck and hugged her tightly.

"I can see that, Lizzy," Annie mumbled and cast a quick glance at Sebastian who took the baked dough out of the oven and bowed towards Lizzy.

"I will provide a room for you, Miss Elizabeth," he said and hastily left the kitchen.

'_How could you dare to even think about kissing her?'_ he chided himself as he moved upstairs to bring Lizzy's suitcase into her room.

'_Why couldn't Lizzy just appear a bit later?' _Annie thought while she tried to concentrate on what her young friend was telling her about her stay at home in London.

* * *

**A/N: D'aaaaw, sorry for teasing you so much xD**


	11. Midnight Talk

"You look troubled! Aren't you happy that I am back?" Lizzy asked concerned as she lowered down on the bench at the kitchen table.

"No, I _am_ happy that you are back. It's just—," her gaze drifted to the unfinished cake on the kitchen-counter and a heavy sigh left her throat.

"Oh! I interrupted you!" Lizzy suddenly squeaked. Annie blushed heavily as she stammered,

"Wh—what? In—interrupted? Who?"

"Sebastian and you! You were baking and now the cake isn't finished because of me!"

Annie breathed out relieved for she thought the girl had seen more than she should have. "Oh, you mean—yes, it was my first cake I ever made and I thought it would be great to finish it. Nevermind, let's go outside. I need some fresh air," she said and hurried the other blonde girl out of the kitchen, through the entry hall and out to the courtyard which was leading them into the garden.

The air of the evening was surprisingly warm and the moon slowly rose higher while a glimpse of sunlight was still visible at the horizon, painting the sky in a beautiful shade of pink.  
The girls lowered down on one of the stone benches, both deep in their own thoughts.

Annie checked her pocket-watch and sighed while her eyes became teary-wet as she stared absently at the portrait of her family.

"Are those your parents?" Lizzy asked curiously and cast a glance at Annie.

"Yes, but that's long ago. I think I was five or six years old when we made that picture," she replied and fell silent again. Her gaze drifted up along the building to the room she knew was Sebastian's. Was he already in there? Or was he still up, taking care of Ciel in the lounge or in the boy's bedroom?

"_He nearly kissed me. I can't believe it. I wonder how his lips might feel on mine. I'm certain they're soft and—"_

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Lizzy's voice spoke up again and pulled her out of her thoughts. Annie blushed again, embarrassed by her own thoughts and avoided to look at her.

"Nothing, really—," she mumbled and fumbled with the chain of her pocket-watch. "So, how was your time at home?"

* * *

Sebastian stood silently at the window of the lounge and stared down into the garden where he saw Annie and Lizzy sitting together deep in a conversation. As Annie's gaze drifted upwards to the window he hastily turned away and saw an amused twinkle in the blue eye of his young Master.

"One might think you are a shy teenager spying the girl he admires so much. What happened to you?" Ciel asked amused.

Sebastian decided to ignore Ciel and poured him a cup of tea. "Lady Elizabeth arrived. I suggest you spend some time with her instead of meddling in my business," the butler said and placed the tea on the side-table.

"Your business? You seem to forget that you are mine and your business is my business as well," Ciel stated annoyed and sipped from his tea. "You should be thankful that I enjoy Annie's company here and I like to play chess with her. And that I promised to keep her safe."

"A couple of days ago it sounded to me as if you like the thought that I—," the butler fell silent and turned away from the boy.

"That you're what?" he asked with a knowing grin on his face. As Sebastian didn't respond the boy added, "I can't deny that it is interesting. Like I already said, I never knew someone like you is even able to produce such feelings."

"I don't plan to play with her, if that's what you intend to say," the butler turned to look at Ciel again and added, "I will tell her about my true identity before she—before anything would happen. Once she knows the truth, it doesn't matter anyway. She will never see me as anything else again."

"You think she'd want to leave us once she knows our secret?"

Sebastian shrugged and moved towards the door. "I don't know. If you'll excuse me, I still have something else to do."

Ciel waved at him with a bored expression and Sebastian made his way silently down to the kitchen again.

* * *

Once darkness fell upon them, the girls had decided to retire for the night. Annie sat silently in her room and read the letter of her parents again. She sensed in the writing that her mother seemed to be in a hurry while she wrote these lines.

She sighed and placed the letter back on the table before she undressed herself and turned in front of the mirror to check if the bruises were gone already. Her skin was still quite purple on the spots Azzurro had kicked her but it didn't hurt as much anymore. She grabbed her white nightgown and put it on.

It was already half past nine and she still couldn't find any sleep. She rolled around in bed and sighed heavily as she lit a candle on her night-table. Thoughtfully she stared at the closed door of her room, her mind was rushing and all she needed to do was talk to someone. Simply talk to someone who might understand her. Someone who never failed to make her feel comfortable.

She stepped out of her room, dressed in her silky white nightgown and a wine-red dressing gown to cover herself a bit. She sneaked silently along the hallway and stopped in front of the wooden door. With shaking hands she knocked gently against it. On the other side she heard quiet footsteps and blushed heavily as he finally opened the door.

"Annie? What's wrong?" Sebastian asked a little confused about her presence at an hour like this, only dressed in those sleeping attire.

"Did I wake you?" she asked but chided herself silently as she was aware that he still wore his uniform. His lips twitched upwards a bit as he replied,

"No, I just came here a couple of moments ago. So, what's wrong?"

"Can I come in?" she whispered and watched him uncertainly. That question surprised him a lot and he could do nothing else but nod. She stepped into his room which was quite dark, only lighted by two candle-sticks. Just like his presence did the atmosphere of this room comfort her immediately.

"You can sit down if you like," he gestured to his bed while he closed the door and turned to look at her again. The white of nightgown shimmered brightly in his dimly-lighted room as she lowered down on the edge of his bed.

"I couldn't sleep, because I had to think about my parents again. I really wish to see them again. It can't be that no one can help them. Why don't they just call the police? Scotland Yard or anyone else! They don't have to go through this alone! I want to help!"

"You can't help them alone," he said and lowered down next to her. "Maybe I could investigate a bit," he suggested and saw that her gaze drifted to him.

"You? I don't believe a butler can do better work than the actual police," she chuckled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. He shifted to take a closer look at her before he said,

"I already told you that I'm no mere butler. Annie, I can see how much it makes you feel low. You are afraid that you might lose your parents. Let me help you—"

"By investigating? You are not Sherlock Holmes, Sebastian. Right now there is nothing you can do for me."

"Then why are you here?" he asked carefully and saw a light blush on her cheeks.

"I don't know. Maybe because I thought—well, you make me feel relaxed. Sebastian—can I stay here tonight?"

His eyes grew wide in shock as he hastily got up from the bed and strode towards the window, facing her with his back while his still gloved hand rubbed over his face to calm down again.

"Alright, I should go—"she mumbled and got up to approach the door. She felt even more embarrassed now that she saw his reaction. Just as she grabbed the doorhandle he stepped closer towards her. Annie winced and looked up at him questioningly for she hadn't even heard him approaching her.

"No, it's fine. It's just—it's new to me. That someone really feels comfortable around me," he said and closed the door again. His gaze was soft and warm and Annie couldn't help but smile at him. Slowly she approached his bed again and slipped under the blanket. Sebastian still stood uncertainly in front of his bed.

"I—uhm," he began but fell silent again. He put the light out and got out of his tailcoat and the vest. Only dressed in his white shirt and the black trouser he carefully slipped under the blanket as well facing her. His eyes seemed to glow a bit in the dark, but Annie felt a strange warmth surrounding her again as she shifted a bit closer towards him.

"My mother often sang a song to me when I couldn't sleep. It is more like a tune, but it always helped."

He could see a soft smile on her face even through the darkness. "Would you like to hum it to me?"

She nodded silently and closed her eyes. Sebastian stared at her as she began humming a beautiful melody with a voice so soft that it felt like honey in his ears. He inhaled deeply, memorizing the scent of her body, the scent of her soul.

"Annie?" he whispered and made her stop humming.

"Yes?"

"I will help your parents. Trust me, Ciel and I—we will solve this case. No one will get hurt and you will be safe. I promise you that," he said quietly.

Annie was more than overwhelmed, though still uncertain how he planned to do it, but that didn't matter to her in this very moment. She shifted even closer to him and whispered,

"Thank you, Sebastian. I can't tell you how much this means to me. But why? Why would you do that?"

"Because—because I want you to be safe," he admitted quietly and gently took her hand.

"You still wear your gloves," she giggled and began to fumble at it but he stopped her.

"Don't—It's better if I keep them on."

She chuckled. "Do you have cold hands?"

"Maybe? And now you should try and sleep. No matter what, tomorrow at six a new shift begins," he said and felt her turning around facing him with her back. She still kept his hand in hers and made him placing his arm around her. "Then you have to keep me warm," she mumbled sleepily. He smiled and pressed her closer against him, held her protectively and warm in his embrace. Even though he had no need to sleep at all he closed his eyes simply to enjoy this moment.

'_I really have to tell her the truth before it's too late,'_ he thought and was well aware of a strange twitching in his chest. Something he never felt before. He frowned and decided to ignore it. His face buried into her long mane he smiled and sighed contently while he listened to the sound of her soft breathing.

* * *

**Two days later**

Ciel sat silently at his desk in the study looking through the letters that had just arrived.

"Invitations to masked balls. Nothing interesting at all. I had enough of these things since the last one. Sebastian, isn't there anything else you have for me?" he looked up at his butler who stepped closer towards him.

"Not an official business, but I made a promise to take care of a certain matter, young Master," he replied.

"You made a promise? To whom?" Ciel cocked an eyebrow.

"I promised to investigate the Conroy case. Something seems not to be in order, young Master. I ask for permission to leave the mansion for a couple of days to spend some time in the summer residence in Central London."

Ciel leaned back in his chair, his head rested in the palm of his hand while he seemed to think about it. "Will Annie go with you?"

"No! She will stay here with you and take care of the household. She can handle it on her own. I will prepare the meals for the next three days. If anything happens just call and I will be back."

"Fine, you may leave. Do what you have to do. The best would be you take Lizzy back as well."

"I don't think that's a good idea. Annie and Lizzy are friends. Give her the possibility to talk to someone—"

"While y_ou_ are not available for talking?" Ciel asked amused and got up to step toward him. "Did you tell her the truth, yet?"

"No, and I won't until I'm back. If that is all I'd like to go and talk to her and leave the mansion right after," Sebastian turned to leave the room.

He found Annie in the library cleaning the shelves. He knocked against the door and stepped inside as she turned to smile at him. "Finally you learned not to scare me to death when you enter a room," she chuckled and stopped cleaning to watch him amused.

"I came to tell you that I will leave the mansion for a couple of days. You will be responsible for Bard, Finny and Mey-Rin. I will prepare some meals for the young Master which you just have to serve at the normal dining hours."

"Are you going to investigate the case of my parents?" she asked eagerly and stepped even closer.

"That's what I'm going to do, yes. Like I promised," he replied with a warm smile on his lips. Annie felt an immense happiness once again and without much hesitation she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Thank you, Sebastian," she breathed into his ear before she broke the embrace and stepped back. He blinked at her still surprised how much she seemed to trust him. And once again he felt the twitching in his chest and this time it felt as if something was growing. He couldn't tell what it was and he hadn't much time to even think about it that much.

"Do you think you can handle that household on your own with the three fools?"

She giggled and nodded. "Yes, I think I can handle that. And I can't thank you enough."

"I try my best to help you. Though I can't promise you that I will find much," he said though it was not the full truth. He _would_ be able to find everything he would need to solve this case but he couldn't tell her that.

"I wish you good luck. I hope you come back in one piece," she said and looked into his eyes. They held gaze for several moments, a silence fell upon them heavier than ever before.

"I will—I will go now," he finally said, turned away and left the room. He knew the time away from her might give him enough space to think about how he should tell her the truth about him. He rubbed his chest as it twitched again and finally he left the mansion, determined to solve this case.

Annie, still in the library, stood at the window and sighed heavily. She wrapped her arms around herself and breathed quietly,

"Please, come back soon—"

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be up at the weekend and it'll contain a lot of action^^**


	12. This is an order

The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky while the streets of London were still quite busy and crowded. Sebastian followed the blonde woman for quite a while now while she had no idea of his presence. She carried two bags with different kind of groceries; a hood covered her head while she hurried along the road and finally vanished into a house with at least ten other flats. Sebastian waited for a while until he stepped out of the shadow of the nearby alley and entered the house as well.

He knocked against the door on the third floor and waited a couple of moments. He knew very well that someone was on the other side of the door already.

"Who is this?" a man asked suspiciously.

"Charles Conroy? Open that door," Sebastian replied calmly and added, "I come with news from Annie."

"Annie? You have my Annie?" a female voice now spoke up.

"Open that door and I will explain everything!" the butler said once again and finally the door opened slowly. A pair of green eyes peeked outside and Sebastian knew this could only be Annie's father for he had the same eyes like she had.

"Who are you?" Charles Conroy asked again as he saw the black-haired man dressed all in black.

"My name is Sebastian Michaelis. I am the butler of Master Phantomhive. May I come in now?" he replied and gestured into the small flat. Charles signaled him silently to follow him. His wife, Mary-Ann, stepped out of the kitchen and eyed him suspiciously.

"You say you work for Ciel Phantomhive? Why are you here? Is Annie—is everything alright with her?" the woman asked and watched him with fear in her blue eyes.

Sebastian smiled as he replied, "Annie is fine. I came because I made a promise to her. I promised to help investigating your matters."

"You are nothing but a mere butler! There is a reason we hadn't called Scotland Yard! Not even they would be able to help! Why do you think we live in this flat? Why do you think we sent our daughter away?" Charles growled and pushed Sebastian against the wall. "How dare you make promises to my daughter? Promises you are unable to keep?"

"I intend to keep my promises, Master Conroy. I suggest we all calm down and talk about your problems."

"Why would a butler help us?" Charles hissed and let go of him to pace up and down in the living room.

"Charles, please! Listen to him! He might not be here if he'd be unable to help! Come, sit down," Mary-Ann offered Sebastian a place on the sofa. He lowered down and thanked her as she poured him a cup of tea before she sat down across from him. Charles lowered down in an armchair and glared at the butler.

"So—you think you can help us?"

Sebastian shifted and sipped from his tea before he replied, "First of all—I'm doing this for Annie and not for you. I hope you understand that. Actually I don't care about other people's businesses except my young Master tells me to do, but Annie is unhappy whenever she thinks about you and that's why I am here. I want to help her get happy again."

"You sound as if you care more for her than just as a servant of your household," Charles grumbled.

"How I sound is not important now. Tell me, what kind of business are you involved in that makes you belief someone could hurt you or your daughter? Who are those people you fear so much?"

Charles shifted uncomfortably in his armchair and rubbed the wrist of his left hand before he replied,

"I don't know how much Annie told you about my business. I am investing in the upcoming expansion of the railroad network. I lend money for this, because my general goods store is not making so much profit in the past months. I met that man, his name was Dragan Vutic. He owns a loan business, came here from Albania to make profit with the railroad. I lost a lot of money the past weeks—but he wants his money back as well. I can't afford it. He was threating me; he said he would kidnap Annie and rape her, he would sell her as a slave or even kill her as a sign that he wants his money back."

Mary-Ann sniffed and dried her cheeks from the falling tears. "Please, Mister—if Annie is dear to you, please help us! Please, protect her!"

"That's why I'm here. So, you know a name and you seem to know where to find that man. Why do you think Scotland Yard or the police can't help you?" Sebastian asked curiously and watched Charles intently.

"Because they said they will harm my family if they find out I talk to the police! And they _will_ find out!" Charles replied angrily.

Sebastian got up and cast a glance at Mary-Ann. "I will find them and I will stop them. No one will ever lay hand on your daughter!"

Without another word he left the flat, stepped out onto the street and sighed heavily.

'_Dragan Vutic—I will find you—and I will kill you! No one will ever threat my Annie and gets away with his life!' _he thought grimly and felt his inner self boil and about to break free. He hurried into the next alley and vanished in the darkness.

* * *

"Actually I don't know what this is, but I'm certain it will taste wonderful," Annie said as she served dinner in the lounge. Ciel thanked her with an amused twinkle in his eye.

"You're doing great, don't worry. Sebastian will be proud of you," he said and saw her blush a bit. _'So, it is true. The feelings are mutual. Now, this will really be interesting,'_ he thought and began eating his meal.

"Have you heard any news from him?" she asked carefully and watched the young Master in high anticipation, but her hope got dashed as he shook his head.

"Do you know where Elizabeth is right now?" the boy asked though Annie sensed it didn't care at all. She was certain he just wanted to know if he was safe from that girl a while longer. She strolled towards the window and cast a glance outside into the garden.

"She is outside picking roses," she replied calmly with a smile on her face. She turned towards Ciel again and poured him another cup of tea while he finished his meal. Once she had placed the dishes on the cart he got up and said,

"Care to join me in a round of chess once you're done with that?" he gestured at the cart.

"Sure, I just have to clean the dishes and will return right after," she replied and left the room. Even though Ciel was a very serious young boy, but he seemed to enjoy playing chess and Annie simply had the feeling that she had to thank him for giving her shelter, protection and work.  
She smiled as she pushed the cart into the kitchen. Finny, Bard and Mey-Rin sat around the kitchen table drinking their tea and chatting about all different kind of topics.

"I wonder where Sebastian is. He never left the mansion for so long without the young Master," Mey-Rin said and cast a quick glance at Annie in hope that the blonde girl was aware of the butler's plans and maybe tell them what was happening.

As Annie was still silently washing the dishes, facing the others with her back pretending not to hear them, she heard footsteps from outside. Shadows hurried past the window and a hushed voice whispered,

"Over there! It's her, no doubt! Get her!"

Suddenly a high-pitched scream echoed through the air and Annie dropped the dishes and rushed out of the kitchen, followed by the rest of the servants.

"_Lizzy!_" she called as they burst outside into the garden, but Lizzy was nowhere to be seen and there was even no sign of any intruder.

"_Lizzy!"_ Annie called again but silence was the only response she got. Mey-Rin clung to her and cried,

"She is gone! Someone took her! We have to do something!"

Annie tried to sort her mind and finally turned to the others as she said determined, "You will secure the mansion! Make sure that no one gets in or out of here again! I will go and talk to Ciel!"

"Aye!" the three yelled and split up while Annie hurried up the stairs and burst into the lounge where she found Ciel who was already waiting for her sitting in his armchair in front of the chess-board.

"Ah, that was quick—"he began but Annie interrupted him quite out of breath,

"Lizzy! Someone took Lizzy! They kidnapped her!"

The boy twitched and stared blankly at her. "Who?"

"I don't know. I was in the kitchen and heard someone outside. They seemed to be looking for her because one of them said, 'It is her, no doubt!' and then Lizzy cried out and as we arrived in the garden no one was there anymore! I told the others to secure the building and the surrounding in case someone might come back."

He nodded silently and started out of the window.

"Ciel? What shall we do?" she asked desperately.

"Sebastian—"he mumbled as if more to himself. Annie frowned and was just about to say something as Ciel suddenly stormed out of the room calling,

"This is an order: find Elizabeth and bring me her kidnapper!"

Sebastian smiled as he watched the mansion of Dragan Vutic. A car had just stopped in front of it. Three dark-haired men, definitely east-European, stepped out of it carrying an unconscious blonde girl into the building.

"Yes, my Lord," the butler said contently while the color of his eyes changed into a sparkling pink, more like the shape of a cat's eye. He pulled his gloves off by using his pointy teeth.

'_You may have picked the wrong girl, you filthy rat, but your punishment will be the same!'_ he thought and jumped over the fence that was surrounding the mansion.

* * *

Lizzy's eyes flickered open as footsteps approached her. She felt that she was bound on a chair sitting in the middle of a dimly lighted room. She whimpered in fear as the dark-haired man watched her intently with his piercing blue eyes. It was clearly visible that he was annoyed. No, he was more than that. He was furiously as he spun around to his handymen and yelled,

"Are you kidding me? Seriously, does _she_ look like eighteen?"

He grabbed Lizzy's chin and turned her face more into the light. "Tell me again—does she look like an eighteen year old girl?"

The two men shifted uncomfortably and scratched their heads. "Well, Adnan said you're looking for a young girl with blonde hair and green eyes and she was the only one we found!"

"Adnan! Where is that son of dirty rat?"

"S—sir?" Adnan's voice spoke up with a high amount of fear. Dragan turned towards the door and glared at him. "There you are! Tell me what happened!"

Dragan's eyes grew wide as he saw the stream of blood flowing out of the man's mouth.

"Lady Elizabeth—please, close your eyes," Sebastian said calmly and peeked around the corpse of the dead man which he still held in front of him as a shield. The girl whimpered again, but did what the voice told her.

"Why are you standing there like this? Kill him!" Dragan yelled at the two remaining men in the room but with a fast move a pair of silver knives impaled them. The Albanian recoiled and tripped over. He landed on his backside with a thud and crawled further backwards with each step the butler made towards him, his eyes glowing pink, his smile revealing his pointy teeth.

"Who—who are you? Leave my house!"

The butler chuckled. "Oh, I _will_ leave your house. And I'll take _you_ and the lady with me!"

"Wha—?" Dragan began as the butler's shoe kicked him directly in his face. Stars exploded in front of his eyes and he dropped passed out to the ground. Sebastian turned around and cut the cord around Lizzy's wrists. He knelt down in front of her as he said calmly,

"You can open your eyes again."

Her eyes opened carefully and a surprised look grew on her face. "Seb—Sebastian?" A tear rolled down her cheek as the butler picked her up. He lifted the unconscious body of Dragan over his shoulder and jumped out of the window. Lizzy clung to him and sniffled into his tailcoat. He placed her into the back of a carriage and paid the driver to take her to the Phantomhive Mansion right away.

Once the carriage was out of sight, he started to run into the forest to take the shortcut to the mansion.

* * *

Annie paced nervously up and down in Ciel's study where he sat silently behind his desk, his head leaning in the palm of his hand.

"I don't understand—why would someone kidnap her?" she mumbled more to herself trying to understand the whole situation. Not only the fact about Lizzy being kidnapped confused her—no, what confused her even more was that Ciel had talked with Sebastian. Without a phone. Simply by yelling some kind of order. And he hadn't done it in her presence at all, he had left the lounge and she was certain he had ripped his eye-patch down by doing so.

She was just about to turn and ask him about that as the door opened. Annie stared at the man in utter disbelief as Sebastian entered and placed the body of an unconscious man on the sofa.

"Lady Elizabeth is safe, young Master. She just arrived and will rest in her room now. I brought you the man who ordered the kidnapping," he said and bowed a bit in front of Ciel. Annie still stared at him and held his gaze as he cast a glance at her.

"Annie, do me a favor and take care of Elizabeth," Ciel finally said and got up from his chair to slowly stroll towards the sofa to take a closer look at the kidnapper. Annie hesitated but Sebastian signaled her that he would come and talk to her once her was done with his task. She sighed and left the room, heading straight for the room of the young girl.

She found her sitting on her bed, her arms wrapped around her knees while her body was trembling from crying so much. Annie immediately hurried towards her, lowered down on the bed and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I'm so glad you are unharmed. You _are_ unharmed, aren't you?" Annie backed a bit away to take a closer look at Lizzy but saw that she had no injuries. Only her wrists were a bit red and purple from the cords that might have been bound around them. "What happened? Did you know these men?"

Lizzy slowly shook her head and sniffed before she replied, "No—I was in the g—garden as I heard someone approaching me. I—I thought it is you or maybe S—Sebastian but there were two strangers grabbing me and pressing a hand on my face with a cloth. It stank awful and I passed out quite quickly—"she paused for a moment to clean her nose before she continued,

"I woke up in a dimly lighted room. There was that man—he yelled at two other men and grabbed my chin. He—he said that I don't look like eighteen. He—he said they took the wrong girl. He called for someone and suddenly there was all that blood and Seb—Sebastian he told me to close my eyes. The next thing I know is that he told me to open them again and he picked me up and carried me outside with that other man on his shoulder. And—and Mey-Rin brought me up here just a couple of moments ago."

Annie had listened intently to that story. One detail had stroked her the most. "So, he said they took the wrong girl? He expected an older girl?"

"Yes, and one of the men said that the other had said they should take the girl with blonde hair and green eyes, but they wanted someone older than me."

Suddenly they both fell silent as realization showed up in their eyes. Lizzy took Annie's hand and whispered, "They wanted _you—"_

A knock at the door made them twitch as Annie called to come in. Sebastian entered and watched Lizzy for a moment. "Do you feel alright, Miss Elizabeth?"

"Yes, Sebastian. Thank you—for rescuing me!"

His lips curled a bit upwards. "It's my duty as the Phantomhive Butler to take care of our guests."

Annie placed a soft kiss on Lizzy's forehead and said, "Excuse me, I will look for you later again. Sebastian—," she turned around to look at him and added, "I need to talk to you."

He nodded silently and they left the room heading to hers. Once they entered she asked, "Who was that man?"

"His name is Dragan Vutic—he is the man who's threatening your family."

"How do you know that?" she asked and lowered down on the edge of her bed. Sebastian paced up and down in front of her as he explained,

"I talked to your parents. They live quite incognito in an apartment in Central London. They told me everything. And your father revealed to me that Dragan had threatened him to kidnap you, to make you a slave or—or kill you if your father won't pay his debts."

"My father owes him money? That's what it's all about? All about the goddamn money?" she jumped up and approached her window to cast a glance outside.

Sebastian stepped behind her. Slowly she turned around to look up at him. "Did you kill him now?"

"No—"

"Will you kill him?"

"Only by order," he replied vaguely and turned away from her. "I do believe—no matter what will happen to him, that you will leave us anyway quite soon again."

Annie stared at him in shock. "I wouldn't—"she began and blushed as he turned to look at her once more quite surprised.

"Why not?" he asked carefully and stepped a little closer. She felt his typical warmth radiate again, comforting her which made her next movement a lot easier for her even if she was still immensely afraid of his reaction.

"Because—I can't go as long as I don't know what my heart wants," she whispered and gently stroked his cheek. A smile played around her lips as she saw the confused look in his crimson eyes. Sebastian, on the other hand, felt that strange twitching in his chest again, stronger this time. It felt like the twitching of a muscle—a muscle that wasn't even existing inside him at all. At least—that was what he thought.

Slowly, ever so slowly, his face leaned in closer down to hers while she didn't even back away. "Annie—"he breathed, still trying to prevent this from happening, but she tilted her head a bit and closed her eyes as their lips finally met in a kiss so soft as if their lips were brushed by the purest silk on earth.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading and for all your lovely reviews! Don't hesitate to stop and leave some nice lines in the review-box.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! **


	13. Farewell

Sebastian intensified the kiss for just one brief moment, before he pushed her gently yet determined away from him.

"What's the matter?" she asked irritated as she saw the shocked look on his face. The butler made a step away from her and ran his hand nervously through his raven hair.

He sighed and looked at her again as he finally found his voice again. "Annie—I can't."

She immediately felt how her eyes filled with tears. Desperately, she stepped closer to him and gently put a hand on his arm.

"Couldn't you feel it?"

Never before did Sebastian hate himself so much like in this very moment as he sharply turned away from her. "I felt nothing. There is nothing and there will never be something, Annie," he replied with a cold tone in his voice while his insides were bursting.

Annie could not believe what she was hearing. He could not be serious. After all what he had done for her so far; the night he had held her in his arms while she was asleep. And now he had also helped her parents.

"I don't understand—"she whispered with a broken voice.

"Just accept it," he growled and hurried out of the room.

Tears ran down her cheeks while she still stared at the closed door in utter disbelief. Like in trance her fingertips gently touched her lips. Just moments before Sebastian's sensual, soft lips had sealed hers and now he pretended that it had absolutely no meaning.

She turned to look out of the window as she felt anger building up in her. She did not care what he or Ciel had in mind for Dragan. This man would no longer threaten her and after all what had happened this night she came to a decision.

In tears, she pulled her suitcase from under the bed and began to pack. She would say goodbye to all of them next morning and leave the manor.

She would leave Sebastian and her feeling for this strange butler behind and return to her parents.

"_You idiot, Sebastian,"_ she mumbled as she crawled under the blanket in an attempt to find some sleep, but it did not surprise her that she was unable to sleep at all.

* * *

The morning sun rose up at the horizon as Sebastian opened the curtains in Ciel's bedroom.

"Good morning, Master. I prepared Earl Grey for you," the butler said shortly as he poured the tea into the cup and handed it to Ciel. The boy took it and sipped from it.

"Where is Annie?" Ciel asked curiously for this was an unusual sight the past weeks to see Sebastian without the girl. The butler pulled the attire out of the wardrobe as he replied,

"She might still be asleep. I don't know."

"You don't know? That's new—"

"Your schedule today—"

"Sebastian! I don't care about my schedule now. I want to know what happened! You found Dragan and he will never threaten her family again. She should be thankful, right? Was she thankful?"

"She was—"Sebastian replied shortly and began dressing the boy up. Carefully the butler buttoned the shirt up until Ciel suddenly chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"You buttoned it wrong," the boy said and gestured at the buttons. Sebastian sighed and began buttoning again in silence. Once Ciel was dressed up he left his room to enter the dining room where Sebastian had already prepared his breakfast.

"Today's breakfast contains of—"the butler began but fell silent at the sudden knock on the door. Annie peeked into the room with a smile at Ciel.

"May I enter?" she asked and Ciel gestured her to step into the room. She closed the door behind her and stepped towards the table, ignoring Sebastian completely. He shifted and poured tea into the cup.

"Won't you work today?" Ciel asked as he saw her dressed in her normal attire instead of her maiden uniform. Annie cleared her throat and decided it would be the best to simply say the truth without beating about.

"I'm sorry, but I just came to say goodbye. Now that my family is not in danger anymore I will quit my work here and leave in one hour," she stepped closer towards Ciel and added, "I can't thank you enough for what you and—your butler had done for me, but it is now time to return to my family. I hope you do understand."

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw that Sebastian stared at her in utter disbelief. She cast a quick glance at him before Ciel replied,

"I understand. Though I will miss our chess games, but your parents miss you more."

"They do, indeed and I'm certain you will find a suitable new maid."

"We don't need a new maid—"Sebastian finally found the guts to intervene but Annie turned to leave.

"Farewell, Sebastian," she said before she slammed the door shut. He stopped dead in his tracks while his eyes grew wide in shock about the current events. Annie was about to leave the mansion and it was _his_ fault.

"What have you done? Did you tell her about your true form that she's leaving us now?" Ciel asked now quite serious as he saw the quite miserable state of his butler.

"No—she still has no idea and maybe it is the best. I'll take my leave now if that is fine," Sebastian replied.

"That's fine," Ciel signaled him to leave the room. Hastily Sebastian left and ran along the hallway. Without knocking he entered Annie's room just to find it empty. Panic began to grow inside of him as he realized that she really was about to leave. He checked Lizzy's room to find it empty as well and finally he ran down the flight of stairs into the entry hall. Annie and Lizzy were just embracing each other as Sebastian stopped next to them.

"You can't just leave," he breathed. Annie huffed and took her suitcase.

"I can't? Why should I stay any longer, Sebastian? Tell me, how am I able to work with you now?" she asked bitterly and stepped outside. He sighed and followed her, ignoring the curious glance of Lizzy.

Annie lifted her suitcase into the back of the carriage and turned to look at him again. "You know—I really thought we have a connection. You rescued my life, you helped my parents and whenever I felt sad you were there for me. And _you_ nearly kissed me first in the kitchen! It's not as if the kiss last night was such a surprise! I really thought you feel the same, Sebastian!"

"Even if I do—it would not change my decision, Annie," he said and stepped a little closer once more but she backed away and huffed in frustration.

"Forget it!" she hissed and climbed into the carriage. Sebastian grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"What?" she sighed and looked up into his eyes. Sebastian gazed at her with sudden warmth in his eyes that Annie was tempted to simply wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him again, but then again she wanted to slap him and finally leave. She couldn't take it to be rejected again.

"I have my reasons, Annie," he finally managed to say, still holding her hand tightly.

"And what reason? Sebastian, I just want to understand you. Since the first time I saw you I wanted nothing more—"her eyes became teary-wet again.

"I can't tell you just now—"

She jerked her hand away from him and slapped him right across the face. "Forget that I asked! Forget that I was here! Just forget everything!" She turned and signaled the carriage driver to spur the horse. She climbed into the carriage and closed the door.

Sebastian watched the carriage slowly moving and heading down the path leading away from the mansion. A sudden pain in his chest made him wince and gently rub over his chest.

"I know I can't—I can't forget you, Annie," he whispered and turned. Slowly he entered the mansion again where he found Lizzy staring at him questioningly.

"Miss Elizabeth, I do believe it is time for your breakfast. Follow me," he simply stated and moved on up the flight of stairs. Silently the blonde girl followed him, curious what had happened between the butler and her friend.

She decided to pay Annie a visit once she was back in London as well. Never before did she have such a wonderful friend like her and therefore she wouldn't let it happen that Annie vanished completely out of her life, or the life of the Phantomhive Manor.

* * *

**A/N: A little shorter this time. I had quite a hard time writing this chapter! Hope you like it and I promise the next chapter will be longer again! **


	14. The Truth

Three months already passed by and the Conroy family had moved back into their townhouse in White Chapel. It was December and the streets of London were already covered in a blanket of snow. The river Thames was frozen and the Frozen Fair had begun two days ago.

"Annie! Your cat stole another cookie! You really have to take better care of her," Mary-Ann called from downstairs while Annie sat silently in her room, knitting a pair of dark-red gloves. She had not the intention to visit the Fair at all; she rarely left the house since their return a couple of months ago.

Suddenly, a black cat with a white blaze on its forehead came running into her bedroom and jumped onto the windowsill. The girl chuckled and placed her knitting aside. She patted on her lap, "Come here, Bella," she said and the cat jumped onto her lap, purring contently while some cookie-crumbs were still hanging in its fur.

"You're such a little demon," Annie giggled and placed a kiss on top of the cat's head.

Her parents had bought the cat from the animal shelter two weeks after their return as a gift for Annie. They had sensed that their daughter was sad and seemed to feel lonely after leaving the busy and loud household of Master Phantomhive.

Desperately she had tried to forget everything that had happened during her time in the mansion. Everything that had happen between Sebastian and her. And yet, in some silent nights, her mind was still invaded by his beautiful eyes. Why couldn't she just forget him?

Thoughtfully, she stared out of the window while the cat purred and fell asleep on her lap.

"Annie, my dear? You have a visitor," her mother called and made her wince.

A visitor? Who might visit her? Reluctantly she got up which caused her cat to grumble quietly. Annie left her room and walked along the hallway and down the flight of stairs, when suddenly she heard an all too familiar voice squealing from the entry hall. With a thud, the blonde girl crashed into her and embraced her tightly.

"Anniiiiie! I missed you so much!"

"Lizzy? What are _you_ doing here?" she asked confused, though deep inside she felt relieved to see her friend again after such a long time. Even though she reminded her of the Phantomhive manor again.

Lizzy broke the embrace and smiled brightly at the other blonde girl. "I came to ask if you'd accompany us to the Fair! I brought Paula as well, and I'm certain you will like her! She's my maid and such a lovely and always cheerful girl!"

Annie couldn't help but laugh. "Even more cheerful than _you_ are?"

"Yes!" Lizzy smiled again. Annie sighed and cast a glance at her mother who just stepped out of the kitchen.

"I don't think I want to go there at all," she finally said and earned a scowl from her friend. Her mother nudged her arm and said,

"You should go out more often again! If I wouldn't know any better I'd say you're lovesick!"

"I am not lovesick," Annie protested and lowered onto the steps. Mary-Ann sighed and left the two girls alone again while Lizzy sat down next to Annie and watched her pleadingly.

"Please, accompany us. I really need your help."

That caught Annie's interest and she looked upon the face of her friend. "My help, you say? What's wrong?"

"Nothing...it's just...Ciel's birthday is very soon and I still have no present and I thought...well, you spent some time with him during your stay and so maybe you might have an idea what I could get for him."

"Ah...when is his birthday?"

"It's the fourteenth of December and that means only four days left! I can't visit him without a present! And it's even hard enough to convince him to celebrate at all!" she said and Annie sensed sadness in the other's voice. Lizzy grabbed her hand and shifted to look into her eyes as she added,

"I wish you would still live in the mansion. It was much more fun visiting it while you were there! How about you accompany me for his birthday? Maybe he will celebrate at least a bit if you're willing to come..."

"No! No, Lizzy...I can't go back!" she protested and pulled her hand away to get up again.

"Fine! But please come with us to the Fair! Please!"

"I suppose you won't accept a 'no', right?" Annie finally sighed in defeat and chuckled weakly as she saw Lizzy shaking her head eagerly. "Fine...I'll accompany you. Give me a moment to change my clothes."

"Oh, you're the best! I'll wait in the carriage with Paula!" she squealed and jumped up, leaving the house. Annie shook her head in amusement and walked upstairs to her room again.

Quickly she put on a pair of woolen tights, a black woolen dress, leather-boots adorned with fur and finally her white fur coat. She headed downstairs again.

"Don't forget your gloves, honey!" her mother called and threw a pair of wine-red gloves towards her.

"Thanks, mommy! I'll be back for dinner," she breathed a kiss towards her mother and left the house. The fresh morning breeze made her shiver and she hurried into the carriage where she slumped next to Lizzy.

"You must be Paula," she smiled at the brunette girl which might be just as old as she was, maybe one year younger.

"Yes! And, if I may say, your coat looks very beautiful!"

"Oh...thank you," she blushed and cast a glance out of the window. Silently she watched the snowflakes covering the glass while the carriage rumbled along the roads. The three girls were silent for quite a while, deep in their own thoughts until Lizzy decided to speak again.

"Do you think a ring would be nice for Ciel?"

"He already has a ring. I don't think you should buy another one," Annie replied and watched her friend. "It is winter; maybe you should get him a pair of gloves or some warm attire?"

"Oh! A cute hat! Wouldn't that be wonderful?" Lizzy squealed and clapped into her hands while sending a bright smile at Annie.

* * *

"Young Master, the carriage is waiting. We should make haste so we'll be back for dinner tonight," Sebastian was waiting in the entry hall, dressed in his black coat. He watched Ciel as the young boy approached him with a bored expression on his face.

"Is this really necessary? I'd prefer to stay inside where it's warm."

"Yes, we have to go. The Frozen Fair is a place where a young Lord like you should attend to. And a day outside in the fresh winter air might be refreshing for your mind," the butler opened the door for Ciel and they stepped outside into the snowy front yard where the carriage was waiting for them. Finny was sitting on the driver's seat smiling brightly at them.

"Good morning! I'm so glad to drive you to the fair today!" he called merrily and shifted on his seat, already quite excited to leave the mansion to go to the city as well.

"I just hope we won't meet Lizzy there. Though I'm certain she'll be there, but I'm not in the mood to care about her today," Ciel mumbled while his forehead leaned against the window of the carriage, thoughtfully staring outside while they rumbled along the cobblestone path.

"Mmmh..." Sebastian mumbled, his gaze just as thoughtful as that of his young master. Ciel cast a glance at his butler and frowned.

"And it seems you fear to meet someone very special as well," he stated and saw surprise in his butler's eyes. Sebastian stared blankly at the boy without giving an answer to that and he knew there was no need to answer at all. His master seemed to have read his mind as he turned back to look outside again with the hint of a smile on his lips.

_'Thank you, for reminding me of her again. What if we really see her? Will she ignore me? Should I ignore her? No! I couldn't ignore her...'_ the butler thought and sighed heavily as the carriage finally stopped close to the Tower Bridge from which they could already see a large crowd of people on the frozen river.

Children were ice-skating merrily while their parents and all the other adults were strolling along the different stalls which were selling handmade goods just as toys, jewelry and clothes as well as special imported articles from all over the world.

The butler and his master stepped onto the ice, slowly strolling towards a stall with general goods when suddenly, Ciel spotted a crowd of policemen gathered together a bit apart from the actual Fair.

"That's a strangely high amount of police for such a small Fair, don't you think, young Master?"

Ciel nodded, the tip of his cane thudded quietly on the icy ground. "Looks like an investigation. Let's go and ask what happened," the boy said and approached the group of policemen with Sebastian right by his side.

"Good day, Sir, my name is Ciel Phantomhive and this is my butler, Sebastian Michaelis. It seems there is a crime to investigate?" Ciel introduced himself to a rather young man who revealed himself as officer Abberline.

"Indeed, there is. This morning, a man's corpse was found under the ice of the market."

"And?" Ciel asked curiously while he leaned a bit on his cane.

"The man was a member of a criminal organization. Well, at present, we are chasing after the culprit who killed that man as well as the ring he stole, embedded with a blue diamond worth around two-thousand Pound. The carriage was attacked while it was being transported as evidence, and it was stolen," Abberline explained.

"I think I know who might be able to help us in that case," Sebastian said and exchanged a meaningful glance with his master. Ciel sighed and nodded, causing Abberline to watch them confused.

"And who will that be?" he asked desperately as he followed them until they finally stopped in front of a rather small house. The officer stared at it in disbelief as he said utterly surprised,

"An...an _Undertaker_?"

* * *

"Ouh, can't you take care of where you're going?" Annie grumbled while she struggled not to fall on her backside as two men ran past her. One brushed her quite hard, hitting her shoulder with his own and nearly sent her flying on the icy ground.

"Are you alright?" Paula asked and grabbed her arm to steady her again. Annie thanked her and nodded as she looked after those two shabby men who just vanished in the crowd.

"Yes...I'm fine, thanks. Where is Lizzy?" she cast a glance around and spotted the girl in front of a stall with different headgear. They approached her as Annie suddenly heard a familiar tune waving through the air, coming from somewhere nearby out of a music-box. Silently she began to hum the melody, for she actually liked that sound even though right now it made her also feel quite uncomfortable.

_'London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady...'_

She let her gaze drift along the crowd but couldn't see any musician nearby and shrugged. "Did you find a suitable hat, yet?" she stepped closer to Lizzy.

"No! They are not cute enough! I need something cute! Don't you think that Ciel deserves something that makes him look cute?"

"Uhm...maybe? I don't know, I never really thought about him like that," Annie chuckled and spotted a quite large group of people gathered in front of some kind of stage. "It seems there is some kind of event taking place. Shall we go and take a look? We can search for a suitable present after that," she suggested but saw that Lizzy was already off to another stall where she seemed to have spotted something. Annie decided to stroll closer to the crowd, curious what was about to happen.

She tried to take a closer look but she was too short to see anything from the place where she was standing and so she asked the man next to her,

"Excuse me, but what's happening over there?"

He smiled at her as he replied, "It's a contest! The best ice-sculpture will win that precious sculpture over there," he pointed towards a sculpture nearby. Annie nodded and thanked him as a man, seemingly the host of the contest, called loudly,

"First up is the 'Joyful Scotland Yard' Team with their 'Guardian of London'!"

The man next to Annie chuckled and stepped aside to let her move in front of him so she could see a bit more. Just in that moment a sculpture of a policeman was revealed and she bit back a laugh as she saw the low points from the judges.

"Next is the 'A chinese dress is best in miniskirt form' Team, but…due to circumstances beyond our control, we are not able to judge it!"

The sculpture of a naked woman was hastily covered again and the host called, "Next up is the 'Queen's Woof Woof' Team with 'Noah's Ark!"

The crowd gasped in awe as a huge ice sculpture in shape of an ark was revealed. Annie tried to catch a better glance of the sculpture while the host began,

"Well then, give your…"

"Wait a moment! You haven't seen everything yet!"

Annie gasped and stopped dead in her tracks as she heard that velvety voice. That one voice she would detect within a pool of a trillion voices. She had no idea what happened as the roof of the ark opened and sculptures of animals were revealed.

She wanted to leave that place before Sebastian could see her when suddenly she spotted the two men who had nearly knocked her to the ground earlier. They stood nearby accompanied by another man. It seemed they were taking place in the contest as well, and yet something was wrong with them. Annie could feel it. She shifted a bit closer to the side, still trying to hide from the butler.

"Boss, we can't win against that!"

"Damn! Then, we have no choice but to—," the man who seemed to be the boss slowly reached into his jacket and revealed a gun. Annie gasped and was just about to call for help as the boss of the group spotted her. With a fast move he grabbed her and pulled her towards the sculpture that had a ring on its finger. Annie struggled to get free or at least scream for help, but the man had placed his gun against her temple. "You better keep your mouth shut," he hissed close into her ear. "Or else you'll be the first to die!"

Suddenly the crowd seemed to recognize what was happening and some of the women screamed in panic and shock as they saw the man with the gun and the girl who was obviously his hostage.

"Listen, everyone! This ring here belongs to us! We will take it and no one gets hurt!" the man called loudly and finally caught the attention of them all.

"Annie—," Sebastian breathed, his eyes wide in shock.

"If you don't want that young lady here to die, then get lost!" the man called addressing the police. "I'll count down from ten!"

Annie's gaze locked with Sebastian's. Tears shot in her eyes as the man began to count. "Please—"she breathed and closed her eyes while the tears streamed down her face.

"What are you waiting for? My orders haven't changed! I want you to win this contest and now go and rescue her! _Do it,_ Sebastian!" Ciel growled at his butler who nodded shortly and vanished into the crowd.

"Run, little nobleman! I'm already down to three. Do you really want to see her dying?" the man grumbled while he pressed the gun closer against Annie's head.

"No, there is no need for me to fear her death, because—," Ciel began but fell silent as he saw Sebastian approaching the man at high speed on ice-skates. With a fast move he jumped and kicked the gun out of his hand. He grabbed Annie and pressed her close against his chest while he jumped, twirled and duck from the bullets that were chasing them.  
With another kick, he knocked the two other men off, giving the police their chance to arrest them.

One arm was still placed tightly around the girl's body as he moved perfectly between the dynamite that was now thrown at him, exploding on the icy ground.

"Stop this madness! Don't you forget that we're on ice?" one of the officers called, but it was already too late. Parts of the frozen river broke and officer Abberline reacted quickly by pulling Ciel away into safety. With horror they watched Sebastian, Annie and the culprit going under water.

It seemed like an eternity when suddenly the ice-sculpture of Noah's Ark broke through the surface again. Annie still clung tightly to the butler while he grabbed the man and threw him towards the officer who arrested him immediately.

With a smirk on his face, Ciel stepped towards his butler and finally Annie opened her eyes again. She shivered immensely after her unexpected bath in the ice-cold river Thames.

"D—don't—I'm cold—," she whispered on the edge of passing out. Sebastian's gloved hand gently stroke the back of her head as he cast a questioning look at his young master.

Ciel knew exactly that there was just one right thing for him to do. "Sebastian—this is an order: Take her back home and stay with her as long as necessary."

"Yes, my Lord," Sebastian nodded, desperately trying to hide the thankfulness in his voice. He picked her up bridal style and ran. He ran as fast as he could, up the stairs leading onto the street and off to White Chapel.

* * *

Annie's eyes fluttered open with utmost willpower. Due to her massive headache, her vision was still a bit blurry. She blinked a few times while her hand dropped onto her night-table in an attempt to find a handkerchief for her running nose.

Gently another hand took hers and placed it back on the blanket. "Mom?" she breathed and blinked again, a cough built up in her throat and she sat up.

"No—your mother is preparing tea for you," that familiar voice whispered while someone patted her back until the coughing ebbed away and she let herself sink down into the sheets again.

Finally her vision became clearer again and she stared at the butler in utter disbelief. "S—Sebastian? What are _you_ doing here?" She tried to lower the rate of her heartbeat, to no success.

"I will take care of you, Annie—"

"No! You won't! I told you to—"

"Annie! I _will _take care of you! Ciel ordered me to stay as long as necessary and you are still too weak. You are sick and that is my fault!"

She frowned and watched him intently. "Your fault? Why is this your fault?"

He sighed heavily and cast a glance out of the window. "I should have let you go. I mean, after rescuing you—I should have brought you to safety, but instead I kept you close and even under water. Without me you might not have this heavy cold and you wouldn't have to see me again," his voice grew bitter.

Annie could feel that her eyes became teary wet again and yet she felt angry; angry that she acted like this to his presence. She did not want to cry in front of him—did not want to cry _because_ of him. He turned and was just about to approach her bed again as Mary-Ann peeked into the room.

"I prepared tea for you, my love," she said and entered as Sebastian stepped away from the bed again. Mary-Ann saw that Annie seemed to have cried, but she decided not to intervene. She already sensed that something connected her daughter with that butler. With that man who had helped their family, made it possible that they could live in peace again. She remembered how he had visited them first, offered them his help. She had already known that the butler seemed to have a crush on her daughter and it was just obvious that her daughter had a crush on him as well.

Carefully she placed the tray on the night-table and poured hot tea into a cup. "What kind of tea is that?" Annie mumbled and took the cup, enjoying the warmth radiating from the porcelain.

"It's herbal tea. The apothecary said this will help you get rid of the cold," Mary-Ann replied and placed the back of her hand on her daughter's forehead to check the temperature. "It seems the fever is not that high anymore, though you're still a bit warm. Drink the tea and let me know if you want some more."

Annie nodded thankfully and sipped from the tea. Her gaze drifted to Sebastian who watched her with an unreadable expression on his face. Mary-Ann smiled internally and left the room. Before she could close the door completely, Bella rushed into the room and jumped onto the bed. The cat purred and curled up on Annie. Sebastian stared at them both, pure amazement clearly visible in his wine-red eyes.

"I didn't know you have a cat," he breathed and unwittingly stepped closer. He reached out and gently stroked the cat's soft, black fur.

Suddenly Annie grabbed his hand. "Sit down, Sebastian," she ordered and he obeyed willingly.  
Never letting go of his left hand she began to carefully pull his glove off. The butler wanted to pull his hand away but it was already too late. With a quick move she finally tossed the glove aside.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked in disbelief as he saw her staring at the sign on the back of his hand.

She ignored his question and carefully stroke over the back of his hand. "What is that?"

"This—well, this is—simply a tattoo," he gave it a try. He couldn't find the guts to tell her the truth. And yet, something deep inside him screamed and tossed that he _should_ tell her. That if he wanted to end all this, to prevent even more mess, he _had_ to tell her the truth. She would never be able to look at him again if she would know and therefore it would be much easier for both of them to forget each other quickly.

"A tattoo? It looks strange. It looks so—sinister," she said and looked up into his eyes again.

His head hung low for one moment before he sighed again and looked upon her beautiful face once more. "Alright—Annie, that was a lie. This is not a tattoo—not at all. You always asked yourself how I was able to survive all the attacks—how to survive despite being hit by bullets straight in my head. The truth is—"he fell silent again, uncertain if this was really the best solution.  
She would be disgusted, without a doubt, and he was uncertain if he could take the look of disgust from her.

"Sebastian?"she whispered and nudged his hand.

"The truth is—Annie—I'm not just a mere butler. I'm one hell of a butler. Literally—I'm from hell."

"Ah—"

"Do you understand?"

"No, not really. You're from hell? You mean you come from East End?" she asked confused which caused him to chuckle quietly.

"Even though East End _is_ quite close to hell, but—Annie, I'm a butler and a demon."

She stared at him, still unable to understand what he wanted to tell her. "A demon?"

"Yes, I'm a demon and this is the sign of my contract with Ciel," he gestured at the sign on the back of his hand.  
Silence lay heavily upon them for a couple of moments when suddenly, much to his surprise, the girl began to giggle quietly until she broke out into laughter.

He watched her blankly, her reaction confused him. "Annie? Are you alright?"

"I—I—ye—yes! Oh my, Sebastian—I didn't know you could be _that_ funny!"

"That was not a joke," he said quietly. She coughed and giggled as she grabbed the little hand mirror. "Look into that mirror—_this_ is not what a demon looks like! So, if you are a demon—then I'm the Queen of England."

* * *

**A/N: Well—at least he tried xD Stay tuned for the next chapter! **


	15. Heartbroken

From all the reactions Sebastian had expected—this never even came to his mind. Annie still watched him quite amused and pinched his arm.

"Annie—listen, this was not a joke. This body—this is not my real form. I _am_ a demon and I thought it would only be fair to tell you the truth."

She stopped giggling and watched him carefully. "What do you mean this is not your true form? What _is_ your true form?"

Sebastian sighed and got up from her bed, slowly strolling towards the window which was covered by raindrops. "I won't show you my true form. It is too hideous."

"So you can't prove to me that you speak the truth? If this is a sick plan of you to get rid of me, just tell me that you don't like me!"

"That's ridiculous and you know that!" he turned to glare at her. "I believe I showed you more than once how much you mean to me! And that is—that is not normal, don't you understand? I am not able to have feelings for a human! I am not supposed to have—to have whatever there is inside of me since I know you! My contract forbids me to have anyone else by my side than my young Master."

Another cough built up in her throat. Sebastian was just about to step closer, but stopped dead in his tracks as she raised her hand to stop him. "Don't—"she whispered and patted her chest until the cough ebbed away. Finally she looked up at him again. "I don't know what I should think about all this. Of course, I was confused about all these things that happened to you. You survived so many deadly injuries as if it's just a scratch. And yet—Sebastian, if I mean anything to you: show me your true form. Otherwise I can't believe you."

"I can give you a quick image of the beast that hides in this body—"he said and watched her carefully. "Are you certain that you want to see it?"

She nodded silently and shifted a bit to lean against the headboard of her bed. She pulled her knees closer towards her and wrapped her arms around them. "I am ready, "she whispered and felt how her heart was about to burst in her chest. Never before in her entire life was she that anxious than in this very moment.

"Fine—do not worry, I won't hurt you. Look into my eyes, Annie," he whispered and waited until she gazed into his eyes. The pain in his chest grew more and more until his inner self finally broke out.

Annie's jaw dropped open and she recoiled a bit as she saw the glowing, pink and almost cat-like eyes and his pointy teeth. "Stop it!" she cried out while tears streamed down her face. She closed her eyes, buried her face in her hands. She felt that he stepped closer to her again and looked up at him. "Don't come closer! You—you—_monster!"_ she hissed and staggered out of her bed.

"Annie, please—"he almost begged her to calm down, but to no effect. She opened the door and pointed outside.

"Leave me alone, demon! All these horrific things that happened to me since I know you—this is your entire fault! But you won't get my soul! Forget it! Go and never come back!"

"Annie, listen to me just once. I would never do anything that harms you. And I don't want your soul—"

"I said _go!"_ she grabbed his arm and pushed him out of her room. "Don't you dare ever coming back!"

He stared like in trance as she slammed the door of her room shut. Minutes passed by until his head began to hung lower, almost like a cat in the rain as he turned away from her room and slowly walked along the short hallway. On top of the stairs he cast a last glance back towards the door and sighed heavily before he ran down the flight of stair, opened the front door without saying goodbye and left the house.

He ran, he ran and never looked back.

* * *

Half a year already passed by since Sebastian and Annie had last seen each other. Summer broke free a few weeks ago and the sun shone down from the light-blue sky and covered the skyline of London in her golden light.

A carriage stopped in front of a beautiful summer-residence in downtown. The two figures stepped outside and approached the door.

"Young Master, it's been a while since you last went out. I'm certain you will enjoy the summer season in the city," Sebastian said as they stepped into the house.

Ciel sighed heavily while his gaze drifted along the entry hall. "You know very well that I hate going to crowded places."

Sebastian chuckled and took the hat of his young Master. "But maybe being away from the mansion is okay...for a change. And isn't it much more peaceful without those four servants by your side?"

"If you say so. Anyway, what is that noise?" Ciel said and listened more carefully, aware that someone definitely was in the house. "It's comig from the lounge," he said and moved forward but Sebastian held him back.

"I'll go first," he said with a determined smile. He approached the door, Ciel right behind. Once he pushed the door open they found the lounge in quite a mess.

"Madam Red? Lau? Why are you here?" Ciel called in utter disbelief. The red haired woman turned around surprised,

"Ah! You came back so quickly! And what I am doing here? My cute little nephew is in London! How could I not come and visit you while I'm here as well?"

"If I would have known about your visit, I would have prepared accommodation for you earlier. I'll go and prepare tea for you immediately," Sebastian excused himself.

Once he entered the kitchen and waited that the tea-water would boil, his mind was suddenly invaded by Annie again. In all those past months he never really allowed himself to think about her; always kept himself busy to numb the constant pain in his chest. Ciel had never mentioned her again since Sebastian had informed him about the events in the night he had revealed the truth to her.

He prepared the tea and returned to the lounge. Madam Red took the cup with a thankful smile and tasted it. "Delicious! I never thought one sort of tea can taste so different depending on the way of making it," she turned around to cast a glance at her own butler and added, "Grell, you should follow his example!"

"Y-Yes," the Barnett butler said quietly. Madam Red chuckled as she sent a cheeky smile at Sebastian. "No matter what, everytime I see you, you're still so handsome." She caught him quite off guard as she gave him a quick spank on his backside.

"Stop that!" he hissed and earned a dark scowl from Ciel. To avoid any questions, the young boy intervened,

"Let's talk seriously now. I've heard about the case of prostitutes being murdered on the streets lately."

"Oh, yes, I heard about that on the news. Tragic, real tragic..." Madam Red mumbled. "Though, at least, the murderer seems to concentrate on prostitutes. Imagine someone would randomly kill a beautiful young lady at night," she added.

Sebastian stiffened a bit, but kept silent. Ciel cast a quick glance at him before he added, "Nevertheless, this isn't just some ordinary case. The ways of the killer are very special. Though I should say abnormal. That's why the Queen is so concerned about it."

"You seem to have more information about it than we have," Madam Red said curiously and shifted to take a better look at her nephew, but it was Sebastian who answered,

"The prostitute was called Mary Ann Nichols. The wounds looked like they were from some kind of sharp tool, using quick cuts, with a painful death."

When he had first heard about that case, without the info about the victim's job and last name he immediately thought about Mary-Ann Conroy and he had feared Annie's mother would have been killed. Much to his relief, it was just a prostitute. He couldn't care less about the life of those women.

"Is it just me, or is your butler quite distracted?" Madam Red leaned in closer to Ciel.

"It may appear so...in fact he is already thinking about the case, right? Sebastian?" the young boy said intently.

"Yes, that's correct," Sebastian faked a smile and tried to concentrate again. He hadn't thought about Annie or Annie's family for all those months; he wouldn't start now that they had important work to do. He turned to look at them all as he explained,

"Anyway, the police and other prostitutes call the murdere Jack the Ripper."

"Jack the Ripper, eh? Such a cruel name..." Lau said and shifted on the sofa.

"We should investigate further. Examine the crime-scene and try to find evidences of the murderer. And even though he only killed two prostitutes does not mean he specializes on them. We can't be certain how many women he will kill. I am quite concerned about my fiancee and...," Ciel cast a glance at Sebastian who stared blankly at him before the boy added, "And all the other innocent women in this city."

"Such noble motives," Madam Red squealed. Ciel faked a smile and leaned back in his armchair.

* * *

"I can't believe it! My girl! My little girl!" Corinne sobbed while Mary Ann placed a tray of tea on the table.

"I am so sorry for your loss," she said comfortingly and stroked the other woman's hand. "I just don't understand. How is it possible? That man only killed prostitutes until now..."

"Amanda was no prostitute!" Annie said as she entered the living room, her eyes red from crying. Just a couple of moments ago she had heard about the horrible murder of her best friend Amanda. "Who would murder a young sewer? She never harmed anyone!"

"T—the police couldn't find an answer to that, yet," Corinne said and looked up at Annie. "Annie, you've been her b-best friend. Did she tell you anything? About a man she was seeing?"

"No—she was quite shy when it came to boys. I always had the feeling she's very careful whenever someone tried to ask her out."

"So she had admirers?"

"Just a few, but no one of them would be able to kill so brutally," she replied and cast a glance out of the window. People strolled along the street, careless as if nothing had happened. As if no women were murdered the past weeks. She sighed heavily and turned away from the window. "Excuse me, but...I need some time alone."

"If you remember anything, even you think it is not important, please tell me, alright?" Corinne begged and earned a silent nod from Annie before she left the living room. She entered the kitchen and poured a glass of milk which she drowned in one sip.

_Meow_

Bella just entered the kitchen through the open window and strolled between her legs. Annie smiled weakly and picked her cat up from the ground.

"Did you witness anything, Bella?" she whispered but got no response, of course. The tiny bell on the cat's collar tingled quietly as she jumped out of Annie's arms and ran towards the front door. "You just came from outside. Now you want to go again?"

_Meow_

Bella scratched at the wooden door and cast a glance back at the girl. Annie frowned. "Are you trying to tell me something?" she asked and bent down to ruffle her cat's head. She meowed again and the feeling inside Annie grew even more that something was strange about her cat.

"Mom! I...I need some fresh air. I will go for a walk," she called and grabbed her coat.

"Please, don't go too far! We don't know if that man is still out there!" Mary Ann called concerned.

"I'll stay nearby, don't worry," she replied and finally opened the door. Bella rushed outside and stopped to cast a glance back at Annie. "Yes, I'm coming, don't be so impatient," she said and closed the door to follow her cat down the road.

"Bella, where are you leading me to?" she called and ignored the curious glances of some of the people passing by. The cat continued to stroll along the road, casting a glance back from time to time as if to make sure that Annie was still behind her.

After a twenty minute walk the cat finally jumped up onto a fence that surrounded a quite beautiful house built of white marble. Annie had no idea who was living in this house, but her cat acted as if it was important that she finds out.

She cast a glance along the road again before she carefully opened the gate and stepped towards the front door. Bella stayed on a pillar next to the gate and watched her.

"That's insane...what if the murderer lives here?" she mumbled. With trembling hands she knocked against the door.

Her heart was banging rapidly in her chest, afraid of whoever might open that door. As the door opened she gasped and stepped back in shock.

"_You_! What are _you_ doing here?" she breathed in disbelief as she stared at him.

Sebastian couldn't even move as he gazed into those emerald eyes after seven month of not seeing her.

Silence fell upon them as their gazes locked.


	16. New Chance

Time seemed to stand still while they gazed at each other. Neither of them could believe that this situation was real for it was simply impossible, at least Annie thought so. How on earth could she end up in front of the only house in London which seemed to belong to Ciel Phantomhive?

With utmost willpower she unglued her eyes from Sebastian's and cast a quick glance back over her shoulder and saw Bella curled up on top of the pillar.

"Annie, what are you doing here?" Sebastian finally found his voice again. Six months—six month had passed by and now she stood right in front of him again and her beauty radiated even more than ever before. It struck him right in his chest and his eyes softened with each second that passed by until her voice pulled him out of his daze.

"I don't know what I'm doing here," she replied and turned away from him again. That was as she suddenly stopped dead in her track and looked at him again. This time there was no confusion anymore, but pain and anger clearly written on her face.

She stepped towards him and buried her finger in his chest as she hissed, "_You!_ You are back in London just now that something horrible happened again! It is _your _fault, demon! I wouldn't wonder if _you_ are the one who kills all those women out there!"

He sighed heavily and grabbed her hand, making her wince a bit, though more in surprise than in pain. She tried to yank her hand away, to no effect.

"Let me go, demon!" she hissed again and yet her anger seemed to turn into helplessness.

"Humans can be more evil than the cruelest demon, Annie. And I am by far not the cruelest of my race. All I want is—I just want to explain it to you. You should try and understand before you judge me for something I can't change. I am what I am—and I think I never gave you the impression that I would hurt you in any way. If anything, I wanted to make you happy."

"_Sebastian!_ Who is there at the door?" Ciel called from the lounge for he already wondered where his butler was after he had excused himself to open the door.

The butler and the girl fell silent once again and just by now Sebastian realized that he was still holding her hand. Reluctantly he let go of her and already prepared himself that she would leave him once again. But Annie stayed and quietly sobbed,

"She is dead—Amanda, she was my best friend and now she's dead."

He felt the urge to pull her into his arms, to comfort her just like he had done all those times before and yet he knew this would only make her feel uncomfortable. She was still afraid of his true identity, but at the same time he could see that she was torn apart. She wanted to be close to him but also push him away.

"I don't know what brought you here—"

"My cat—"she whispered and he couldn't help but chuckle quietly as he spotted Bella who was sleeping and purring contently.

"Your cat brought you to me—I mean to this house. I am far from believing in fate, but all I can see is that we haven't seen each other for such a long time and now that I am here—your cat leads you to me in times of your sorrow. Annie, please come in and let me help."

Annie watched him uncertainly, but could not deny that he had a point. From all the houses she could have end up it was the one he and Ciel were living in right now. Her insides turmoil again, her mind was plagued once more about the fact that he was not even a human. At the same time, her heart was screaming for his—if even existent.

"Sebastian, what's wrong?" Ciel stepped out of the lounge and stared at Annie who seemed to be in a quite miserable state. "Now that's a surprise. What are you doing here?"

"Her friend died—"Sebastian replied instead and sent his master a meaningful look. Ciel knew exactly what he meant and stepped towards the girl.

"No matter what happened between you and my butler—that should not affect this case. Please, come and tell us what happened," he said and smiled encouragingly at her. And though Annie still didn't understand the relationship between that young boy and the demon butler, she reluctantly stepped into the house. Sebastian closed the door and turned to look at her. Ciel could see something in his butler's eyes that has never been there before, not even during Annie's time as a maid in his household—he saw a sparkle.

"Sebastian, prepare some tea for us. We're in the lounge," the boy said and gestured Annie to follow him.

"Yes—my Lord," the butler mumbled and went to the kitchen.

* * *

"Sit down, Annie," Ciel offered her a seat in an armchair close to the open window. A warm breeze caressed her face and she leaned back into the chair. "I know this might not be the best moment to ask, but—why did you break the contact to us?"

She huffed and looked at him while he was sitting in the second armchair across from her. "I'm certain you know the answer very well. Your butler is a demon and I don't want to be dragged into the darkness of his life."

"He's not dragging you anywhere, Annie. Yes, he is a demon and yes we have a contract with each other. But apart from that he changed since he knows you."

She kept silent and stared out of the window quite thoughtfully. Ciel sighed and was about to add something, but fell silent as Sebastian entered the lounge with a tray of tea. He set it down on the table between them and poured the tea into the two cups.

"Thank you—Sebastian," Annie mumbled quietly and sipped from the tea. Silence fell upon them until she finally sighed and said,

"Amanda was such a cheerful girl. But she was also very careful when it came to men. She never had a relationship. I don't know who might want to k—kill her—"her voice broke as tears built up in her eyes.

Sebastian was just about to step closer but Ciel signaled him to stop and shortly shook his head. The butler stopped, though his urge to wrap his arms around her grew immensely.

'_Oh, please—don't cry—'_

"So, she was the latest victim—"Ciel mumbled. "We have seen her body," he added and saw a shocked expression on the girl's face.

"Is that the reason why you are here?"she asked carefully and cast a quick glance at Sebastian.

"We are here to investigate in that case, yes," the butler replied calmly and bit back a smile as he saw her surprised face. "I see it confuses you that my Master and I are investigating in something you think obviously _I_ did."

He didn't mean to sound sassy, it just happened.

"You think you are _so_ clever, do you?" she grumbled and folded her arms in front of her chest and glared at him.

"No, I don't think I'm clever, Annie. I know that I _am_ clever," he said with a cheeky smile.

"If the two of you are finished now—"Ciel sighed and folded his hands and leaned his chin on them.

"I am sorry, young Master," Sebastian tilted his head a bit and gestured Ciel to continue. The young boy nodded and said,

"So, Annie—the press might not write about it, but we talked with the Undertaker and he revealed to us that the murdered women all had one thing in common."

"And what is it?" Annie shifted and watched him intently. She needed to know the reason—at least, a bit of a reason _why_ her friend was killed.

"All of them were—incomplete. Their wombs were gone."

"Their wombs? I don't understand—who would kill a woman and take her—womb? Even though the streets are less crowded in the night, but someone might have seen something! Someone must have seen something! No one can just cut an organ out of another body without being seen!"

Annie felt helpless and got up. She stepped closer to the window and cast a glance down into the garden that was blooming beautifully.

"Let's just say that there aren't very many people out on the streets late at night, but accurately cutting out specific organs couldn't be done by a regular person," Sebastian said and caused her to turn around. She watched him curiously and asked,

"What do you mean?"

"From the looks of the culprit's work, that cruel accuracy definitely wasn't carried out by a normal citizen. It had to have been someone experienced."

"Like a doctor?" she stepped closer towards him.

Each step she made closer, the more he felt his new blooming heart twitch in his chest. "I—I don't know. But it's very likely that the murderer is an expert."

"Whatever this is about, we can be certain that someone with such a dark and sick mind wouldn't go around and murder random people for no reason. There must be an influence manipulating him from behind," Ciel said to break the sudden silence that had lain upon the room while Sebastian and Annie had simply gazed into each other's eyes.

"All that we know is that the murderer should be an anatomical expert, but he must also have knowledge of the police-network. He knows where they are when he commits the crime. The culprit could be taking away the organs for some kind of ceremony or because he's with some Black Magic cult," Sebastian suggested.

Annie sighed and checked her pocket-watch. "I should go—my parents will be concerned if I stay away longer than necessary."

"You shouldn't go alone," Sebastian stepped towards her. "Please, let me accompany you home," he offered and cast a glance at Ciel who nodded slowly.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Annie mumbled.

"It would relief me to know that you arrive safely home, Annie," Ciel intervened and added, "And with Sebastian at your side you can't be any safer."

Uncertainly she watched the butler and his Master. _'Maybe they are right. But how can Ciel be so sure that Sebastian won't harm me—Oh, Annie, you're ridiculous! Did he ever try to harm you? No—if anything, he really just comforted you in any way possible!'_

"Fine," she finally sighed in defeat. She smiled weakly at Ciel as she said, "I'm glad that we met again, even under those horrible circumstances. If you hear anything about that case—please, let me know. I need to know the reason for this madness."

"We'll stay in contact, Annie. Take care of yourself," he sent her a smile and addressed his butler, "Make sure she arrives home safely."

"Yes, my Lord," Sebastian bowed his head a bit and offered his hand to Annie which she ignored.

"I can walk by myself, thank you," she said and moved past him out of the lounge. He stared after her and blinked multiple times before he followed her out of the house.

Bella was already gone and Annie was certain the cat was at home, lying on the windowsill and waiting for her to return. She smiled, still confused about the recent events. Silently she and Sebastian walked side by side along the road.

"Sebastian?" she suddenly whispered and stopped in front of her house.

"Yes, Annie?"

He could see she was uncertain how to say what she wanted to say. A soft breeze played gently with her golden hair. Finally she looked into his eyes again.

"I—I missed you," she admitted with tears in her eyes. "No matter how shocked I am, no matter how angry and disgusted I was by you—my life was never the same again. And I don't understand why I missed you. The only thing I know is—that I did."

He hesitated for a second before he carefully took her hand. He expected that she pulled it away, that she would slap him or do anything that would show him she would never ever let him be any closer than now. But she simply stared at her hand that lay so perfectly in his gloved one just as if it belonged right there and nowhere else.

"I know you still need time. And your mind is plagued with other things right now, but let me just tell you this: I would never harm you. I have feelings for you no demon should ever have for a human and yet I have. And I can't change it anymore. I just hope that—that once that case is solved—that we can come together again, in peace, and that you let me explain everything to you. That you let me explain myself to you. Annie, are you willing to do that?"

Annie watched him still a little confused but couldn't help and smile as she saw him giving her an almost puppy-eyed look. Her heart leaped in her chest as she unwittingly squeezed his hand.

"I do, Sebastian," she breathed and turned away from him to open the front door of her house. "I really do—"she smiled at him again and closed the door.

The butler turned and walked back down the road—happiness clearly written on his face.


	17. Call me maybe

Ciel stared in utter disbelief at the outfit that was placed on top of his bed. His gaze drifted to Sebastian, an angry flash shown in his ocean-blue eye.

"You got to be kidding me! I won't wear that!" he pointed at the pink ruffled dress and the hat which was adorned with flowers.

Sebastian surrounded him. "You said you must get into that secret party of Viscount Druitt. You cannot just turn up on his front porch and demand access to his house. He knows very well who we are working for. Therefore we have to change your appearance a bit."

"By dressing me up like a girl?" Ciel huffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Why can't I dress up as another boy and we take Annie to be the bait?"

Sebastian remained silent as he stared at his young Master until he finally said, "I won't let it happen that we pull her into the depth of our secrets once again."

"I don't want this as well and yet, if I'd order you to bring her with us, you wouldn't refuse to me, right?" Ciel stepped closer and watched him intently.

"No, I would obey to your orders like always, young Master, even though it would break—"

"Break what?" the young boy asked curiously. The demon butler lifted his gaze again and looked upon the face of his Master.

"Noth—"

"Sebastian, I told you to never lie to me," Ciel hissed warningly and dug the tip of his finger into his butler's chest. Suddenly he frowned as he stared up into the crimson eyes of Sebastian while he slowly placed the palm of his hand against the other's chest.

"You—you have a heart? Since when do _you_ have a heart?" Ciel asked confused and felt the steady pumping under the palm of his hand.

The butler sighed and ran one of his gloved hands through his raven hair. "Since autumn last year," he finally stated and stepped away from the boy to pick up the dress from the bed. Ciel watched every move of his butler, aware what he was referring to.

"You really love her—"he stated calmly. "I mean—first I thought it was funny, to imagine you might like her more than any other human you've met. And I didn't take it serious at all, because you are still just a demon. Even if I don't care much about love, I am not blind, Sebastian. You did not just grow attached to her—no, an actual heart grew inside your chest. A heart filled with love. A heart—just for her."

"We should really hurry up now. The party will start at seven tonight and we have to get you into that dress," Sebastian ignored everything Ciel had said even though he knew it was the truth.

He stepped towards the boy and began to dress him up for the party as the phone in the study rang loudly. Sebastian stopped his work and exchanged a curious look with Ciel, because the phone rang seldom the past years. The young boy signaled his butler to go and pick it up.

Sebastian strode out of the bedroom and into the opposite room. He picked the phone up and placed it against his right ear.

"Hello?

He frowned as only silence came from the other side until he was aware of a soft breathing and finally the voice spoke,

"Hello—Sebastian."

"Annie?" he breathed and turned to cast a glance towards the door as if checking no one would listen. He could hear the sound of rustling paper before she replied,

"Yes, it's me. I—I hope I don't disturb your work?" she asked carefully.

"No—well, maybe a little bit," he admitted.

Silence was once again the only reply. "Annie? Are you—are you still there?"

She cleared her throat again. "Sebastian—I may have emotionally overreacted now and then. I wasn't always fair—"

A confused smile curled his lips. "Are you reading this?"

"That's nonsense!" she exclaimed. "Uhm—you were always there for me and this—shone a light on certain qualities you possess. And you were right; I was judging you for—for what you are."

He chuckled quietly. "Hey, you _are _reading it!"

"Oh, stop interrupting me, you fool," she mumbled with the hint of frustrated amusement in her voice which made his heart flutter again.

"Many apologies—go on," he said amused.

"So—what I wanted to say is—Sebastian, I might have been wrong and I want you to know that."

"I should have told you the truth right away, but I suggest we discuss these things in private sometime," he said reassuringly.

"Yes, you're right—"

A long pause followed in which neither of them knew what to say. Nervously he played with the cord of the phone and cleared his throat. "Annie, I am quite busy tonight. Master and I are out on a secret party to investigate the Ripper case. I do believe we might solve it sometime tonight," he explained and heard her breath catch.

"You mean you are on the heels of that filthy rat that killed Amanda and all those other women?"

"I think so, yes," he paused before he added with a chuckle, "And young Master Ciel has to dress up as a girl to be the bait."

The giggle on the other end of the line was all he had hoped to hear and the smile on his lips grew wider. How much he would give to be with her in this very moment, to hold her in his arms, to see her devilishly emerald eyes sparkle brightly in the light of the sun and see her wonderful lips parting for the most wonderful melody he had ever heard in his entire existence—Annie Conroy's laughter.

"Annie, if this case is solved until tomorrow—would you like to come here and have dinner with me? So we can talk?"

She seemed to think about it for a second, the longest second Sebastian had ever experienced. Finally she replied,

"Yes, that would be great."

He smiled and nodded slowly. "That relieves me a lot. Now—I am sorry, but I have to go. I will pick you up from home tomorrow at six, alright?"

"Oh, you want to pick me up?"

"Not?"

She giggled again. "It's fine. I'll await you at sharp six," she imitated his tone from her first day back in autumn where he had told her when her shift begins in the morning. He chuckled and got the reference immediately.

"I will be there. Good night, Annie."

"And good luck to you," she replied and cut the phone connection. Sebastian stood silent for a couple of moments, before he placed the phone down again. A warm smile curled his lips while he rubbed his chest, trying to calm his fast beating heart.

Ciel stepped into the study, half dressed up as a girl already. "Who was that?" he asked and saw that Sebastian hadn't even recognized his presence as the butler winced and turned around. The corner of his mouth twitched as he added, "No need to answer. What did she want?"

"Apologizing, I think. I invited her for dinner tomorrow," Sebastian replied and stepped towards him to help him with the rest of his costume.

* * *

Once she had placed the phone down, Annie lowered down on the sofa in the living room. Her heart was still bumping heavily in her chest and she smiled from one ear to the other.

The jingle of Bella's small bells waved through the room as she jumped onto her lap and purred contently while pressing her head against the palm of the girl's hand.

"I guess I have to thank you, Bella. Without _you_ I might have never known that Sebastian is here. And I'm certain he will solve the case quickly—so we will dine together tomorrow and talk about certain things," Annie mumbled and smiled at her cat.

A soft knock came from the door of the room and Annie winced. "Who is there?"

"It's me," her mother's voice spoke up and added, "You have a guest. Miss Elizabeth is here."

"She can come in," Annie called and sat up with Bella still on her lap while the door flew open and the young girl approached her with a concerned look.

"Oh, Annie! I heard about your friend! That's horrible! How do you feel?" she lowered down next to her.

"Could be better. Though I am certain her death will be avenged very soon, maybe even tonight," Annie replied with a determined smile on her lips as she thought about the strength of Sebastian, the ability to take down a hundred of men single-handedly. She knew it would be the easiest for him to bring Jack the Ripper down.

"What makes you so certain?" Lizzy asked curiously and reached for Bella to stroke her soft, black fur.

"Sebastian and Ciel are investigating. Tonight they might find the killer."

"You are in contact with them again? Since when?" the girl seemed to be highly surprised and yet relieved to hear that. Annie chuckled and leaned back against the sofa.

"A couple of days. And I just talked to Sebastian on the phone a few moments ago. He said that they would be at a party tonight where Jack the Ripper might be as well, at least he hopes so. I know that Sebastian will find him."

"You like him!" Lizzy suddenly exclaimed and squealed as she saw Annie's confused look and the slight blush.

"Who?"

"Sebastian!"

Annie remained silent and thoughtfully stroked her cat's fur. Lizzy giggled and suddenly wrapped her arms around the other girl. "I _knew_ it! That's also the reason why you quit your job in the mansion, right?"

"I quit because my parents were safe again and I missed my home. It had nothing to do with him," she replied and tried to sound as believable as possible.

"Come on, admit it already!"

"Admit what?" Annie avoided her friend's eyecontact and shifted to cast a glance out of the window. It was already getting dark outside, the clock at the wall showed eight o'clock.

'_Are they already on the party? He didn't say when they would leave. Oh, please, Sebastian—please take care of you'_

"Annie?" the other girl's voice pulled her out of her thoughts again.

"Hmm?"

"So? Your answer?"

"To what question?" Annie replied confused and earned another giggle from her friend.

"If you love him," Lizzy repeated and saw a twinkle in Annie's eyes which vanished quickly.

"I don't know, Lizzy. It is complicated," she finally admitted. She _had _strong feelings for this man—this demon. And yet, it still unsettled her that he was what he was. She sighed heavily and got up to pour a glass of apple-juice into two glasses.

Once she handed Lizzy one glass she raised hers and said,

"Let's drink to the end of Jack the Ripper."

Lizzy shook her head in disbelief but clinked her glass with Annie's and drowned the juice.

Annie, on the other hand, thought about the butler. A smile curled her lips as she felt the sweet tickling growing in her stomach whenever his handsome face invaded her mind.

'_How do you really look like, Sebastian Michaelis? Will I be able to—have feelings for you once I know your true appearance?'_ she mumbled internally to herself and led her gaze back out of the window.

A determined smile curled her lips once more.

'_If you want it or not. I will find out!'_

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for your wonderful support and those great reviews! This was more a filler chapter! I hope to bring the next chapter up as fast as possible! **


	18. Confession

As the morning sun rose at the horizon and the life in the streets of London slowly awoke, Ciel had already finished his breakfast.

"What's on my schedule today, Sebastian?" he asked and yawned, still quite exhausted from the events of the previous night at the party. Once again he had been in a quite dangerous situation, but Sebastian was there like always and rescued him. And now that the case of Jack the Ripper was solved he could relax a bit.

"Nothing in particular. You may do as you wish," the butler said and turned as the doorbell rang. "That might be the post-man," he said and left the dinner hall. Ciel walked along the hallway and entered the study as he heard the footsteps of his butler returning as well with a pile of letters, most of them some invitations for balls and feasts, as well as the daily newspaper. Sebastian placed everything in front of the boy and began pouring some tea for him as Ciel suddenly rose from his chair,

"_What?_ What's the meaning of this?"

The butler watched him quite surprised. "What happened, young Master?"

Ciel stared at the newspaper and read, "Jack the Ripper returns! Victim: Annie Shepherman! Another prostitute sacrificed."

For one second Sebastian had felt his heart stop as he heard the name of that woman. He knew his breath had caught and saw Ciel watching him.

"Pull yourself together, Sebastian! It is not our Annie, alright? So—tell me: how is this possible? The Viscount didn't go anywhere last night!"

"Well then, it seems he was not involved and Jack the Ripper is still somewhere out there."

Ciel slumped back in his chair and sighed heavily. "That means I have to come up with something again—Alright, we have to narrow it down. Sebastian, organize the list."

"As you wish—"he bowed and left the study.

* * *

Annie had just got up to have breakfast and lowered down at the kitchen table where her father was hiding behind the newspaper just like every morning. He looked up with a smile as she had entered the room and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Good morning, angel," he said and hid behind the news again. She chuckled and placed a kiss on her mother's cheek and finally lowered down across her father. While thoughtfully munching on a scone with strawberry-marmalade her father suddenly huffed,

"It's unbelievable. One might think our police system should be able to catch a single murderer, right?"

"What?" Mary-Ann asked and surrounded her husband to catch a glimpse of the article. Her face fell and she shook her head.

"What happened, mom?" Annie asked curiously. Her mother cast a glance at her.

"Jack the Ripper is still out there. He killed another prostitute last night."

She dropped her scone and got up to take a look into the newspaper. "But that is impossible—"she mumbled and stepped away from the kitchen table.

"You're pale, Annie. What's wrong?"Mary-Ann stepped towards her daughter and wrapped an arm around her. Annie's mind circled around the phone call the previous evening.

'_Sebastian seemed to be so certain they would catch the Ripper. Something might have gone wrong. What if—if Jack the Ripper killed Ciel and Sebastian. Can a demon get killed at all?'_

She looked at her mother with a small smile. "I have to make a phone call. Excuse me," she hurried out of the kitchen and entered the living room. She closed the door, took the phone and lowered onto the sofa. With trembling fingers she dialed the number of Ciel's summer residence.

The phone rang—and rang—and rang. "Oh, come on, pick it up!" she whispered but after more than twenty times ringing she slammed it down again.

What should she do? What if Sebastian and Ciel were in danger? Her heart was pumping heavily in her chest. _'No, I can't just sit here and wait if Sebastian turns up tonight or not!' _she thought and got up. She hurried upstairs and changed her clothes. After a quick wash and combing her hair she hurried back down.

"Mom? Dad? I will be away for a while!" she called and saw Mary-Ann peeking into the hallway.

"Where are you going?"

"I have to go and see Sebastian—and Ciel," she said and earned a knowing look from Mary-Ann.

"Will you be back for lunch?"

"I hope so. I will call you if not, alright?" she breathed a kiss towards her mother and left the house.

The summer sun shone brightly down on her while she moved along the street, trying to get to the house as fast as possible. All different kind of things rushed through her mind and the most important question popping up was: What should she do or say if Sebastian opens the door?

She nearly bumped into a boy and a girl holding hands. She blushed, "I'm sorry! So sorry!" she mumbled and began to run the last few feet to the residence. Finally she arrived at the gate.

She panted heavily and saw the carriage was in the front which could only mean someone should be home. But why did nobody pick up the phone? She straightened herself, took a deep breath and entered the small courtyard and knocked against the wooden door.

'_Open the door. Please, open the door—'_

Long minutes passed by and she was just about to turn and leave as a quiet creak came from the door as it opened.

"An—"Sebastian began as she knocked his breath out of his lungs by crashing into him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"You stupid demon! Why don't you answer the phone?" she cried out still pressing against him. He placed his hands on her waist, surprised about her sudden outburst.

Once she stepped away from him she blushed heavily. Sebastian smiled at her as he signaled her to come in. "Why are you here, Annie? I thought I wouldn't see you until tonight."

"I have read the newspaper and saw that Jack the Ripper is still out there and—and I called you on the phone but no one answered it and I—I thought, maybe, something happened to you on that party last night," she explained and stepped into the entry hall. He took her jacket and placed it on the hall stand.

"It was indeed a tricky night, but I wouldn't be the one I am if I couldn't handle with situations like these," he replied with a smile at her. He couldn't even begin describing the feelings washing over him, flooding his body with emotions he never had before. Now she was there—right in front of him and that just because he did not answer the phone. Because she was concerned about him. The heart in his chest leaped for a second.

"You must think I'm hysterical or something. I am sorry, I acted foolish again," she sighed and turned to look at him.

"No, actually I am surprised that you care so much about me after all," he replied and stepped closer but stopped as he heard the door of Ciel's study open and close.

"Sebastian, who's there at the door?" the boy called quite impatiently. Annie sensed that she came to a quite unfitting time and was about to grab her jacket, but Sebastian stopped her by gently wrapping his fingers around her wrist and lowering her arm again.

"Don't leave—"he whispered almost pleadingly and took her hand, pulling her gently with him up the flight of stairs just to let go of her once they reached the top of it where they nearly bumped into Ciel.

"Annie? Such a surprise to see you. I thought he invited you for dinner and not for lunch," the boy said amused but took her hand and squeezed it gently.

"I am sorry if I interrupt you by any of your business. I can leave if you—"she began but Ciel raised his hand to silence her.

"No, it is fine. Actually we are a bit stuck on the Ripper case at the moment. I do believe you have read the papers this morning. That's the reason why you are here, right?" Ciel said with the hint of a smile as he saw her gaze drifting to Sebastian or a second.

"Yes, I remember that you were on a party last night to investigate and it sounded as if you are certain to catch him there. Then I read the papers and tried to call you on the phone but no one answered and I—I was quite concerned that something happened to you," she replied.

"Oh, I am sorry, but that was my fault," Ciel said and gestured her to follow him into the lounge. "I told Sebastian not to answer the phone because we were quite deep in some research. Even though I had the feeling it has been you, because you've been the first person in a long time using this number."

She blushed and smiled a bit as he signaled her to lower in the armchair close to the window.

"Sebastian, bring us some tea," Ciel said and the butler bowed and left the lounge for a while. She looked after him until the door was closed before her gaze drifted to the boy in the opposite armchair again.

"May I ask what happened last night?" she finally spoke up again and watched him curiously.

He shifted a bit uncomfortably before he answered, "We had to believe that the Viscount of Druitt, Aleister Chamber, is Jack the Ripper. Well, I—I had to be the bait to get closer to him," he stopped as he saw her amused smile and he sighed. "Sebastian told you I would dress up as a girl, right?"

"He did, indeed," she said amused but signaled him to go on. He folded his hands under his chin as he continued,

"Well, he is a criminal but not the one we were looking for. He drugged me and dragged me away from the party to sell me at an auction in the cellar of his manor. Sebastian rescued me, like always, and we fled before the police showed up. He is in custody, but still he is not Jack the Ripper. Therefore we are stuck and I have to come up with another idea how to get hands on that man."

Annie had listened intently and looked up as the door opened and Sebastian entered with the cart. He poured tea for his master and the girl and lowered down on the sofa close by. Annie sipped from the tea before she said,

"And now you have to make another list of suspects?"

"I already made one, but there are still too many names on it," Sebastian replied. "The problem is there are four and a half million people in London alone. During this seasonal party period, there'd be even more."

She nodded thoughtfully and winced as the door suddenly flung open. "Ciel! You're still working?" a red-haired woman called cheerfully and entered the lounge together with her quite uncertain butler. Annie had never seen these two and watched them surprised.

"Oh, who is that lovely lady?" the red-haired woman squealed and approached Annie with open arms and embraced her as if they'd be good friends. Annie stiffened a bit but smiled at her as she said,

"My name is Annie Conroy. I'm a friend of Ciel and Sebastian."

"She worked as a maid in my household in autumn last year and we grew to become good friends. Annie, this is my aunt, Angelina Dalles—"

"Please, call me Madame Red," she intervened and smiled brightly at Annie before she turned to Ciel again. "So, I see you are still working on the case. You know, you should not work too hard. How about a round of chess?"

Ciel sighed. "I really have no time for chess," he protested but Madame Red would not give up so easily.

"Come! Take a break! Take a break! Look, my butler already prepared tea for us! Grell, serve the tea for Ciel and me!"

Annie got up and offered Madam Red her armchair which she took gratefully. The blonde girl strolled over to Sebastian who eyed the other butler carefully. Grell seemed to be very nervous and even Annie noticed his strange behavior.

"I've prepared herb tea made from wild roses," he said and poured the tea into the cup, carefully as if he was afraid to spill some of it.

"He is not an expert," Annie whispered behind her hand and earned a thoughtful nod from Sebastian.

"Sebastian, Annie, you may take your leave now if you want," Ciel said and smiled at the girl and his butler. They nodded and left Ciel and his aunt behind. Once they closed the door they heard Madam Red yelling,

"This tastes bad! Why is herbal tea salty? And you call yourself a butler?"

Annie giggled and shook her head. "Not every butler seems to be a—well, you know," she gestured at Sebastian and earned a chuckle from him.

"Not every butler, but still more than you might think," he winked and moved on down the flight of stairs. She stared after him, quite confused. He cast a glance back over his shoulder. "Won't you come?"

"Oh—yes, of course," she stammered and followed him down the stairs and into the kitchen. She lowered down at the table and thanked him as he placed a glass of milk and a plate of chocolate-cookies in front of her.

He lowered down on the opposite of the table and watched her curiously while she took a bite from a cookie. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and she looked up at him with a twinkle in her eyes.

"You—uhm—you wanted to explain yourself to me," she stated and watched him expectantly.

He shifted and leaned back in his chair. "What exactly do you want to know?"

"Who are you?"

"Sebastian Michaelis, a demon and a butler."

"Is Sebastian your real name?"

"It is the name my master has given me on the day our contract began. Actually it was the name of his dog—he liked the idea giving me the name of a dog, well knowing that I hate dogs."

She nodded thoughtfully. "So you don't have a real name?"

"I have, but it is poison to your ears. I don't want to say my name."

"Alright, I can live with that, but will you tell me why you became Ciel's butler?"

"Well, it began three years ago. The mansion burned to the ground and his parents died in the fire. He was kidnapped and about to be sacrificed in an occult ritual."

She stared at him. "So someone put the mansion on fire? It was murder?"

He nodded and continued, "He summoned me and formed a contract. You have seen my sign," he raised his gloved hand, "And his sign is on his right eye."

"So that's why he's wearing his eye-patch!"

"Indeed. Once forming the contract, he ordered me to slay his abductors which I did, because that was my job. You asked me why I became his butler? Well, I thought that the role of a butler is the most suitable to serve an Earl," he smiled at her. "I will be his butler until his mission of revenge is completed."

"And what will happen then?" she asked anxiously though she already knew the answer. And yet she had to hear it from him.

Sebastian sighed, well aware that it brought pain to his heart to tell her this. "I will get his soul."

"You will kill him?"

"That—that won't be killing, Annie. It is the payment for the contract and he knows it."

"But it is still murder!" she exclaimed and rose from her seat. She surrounded the table and grabbed him by his jacket, shaking him. "It's wrong! Demon or not, you can't—you can't just—"

"Annie, calm down," he gently took her by her wrists and lowered her hands. "That is the truth and you wanted to know the truth."

"What happened after you killed his kidnappers?" she whispered and lowered down on the chair next to him. Her gaze drifted to her wrists which he still held gently in his hands. He pulled his hands away and drove through his hair as he added,

"I took him to the Royal London Hospital. His aunt, Madame Red, works there as a doctor. She cared for him until he was strong enough to return to his mansion. I reconstructed it while he drowned in his sorrow and anger. The loss of his parents weighs heavily in his chest."

"That's understandable, Sebastian. I cannot even imagine losing my parents due such cruel acts."

"Well, and from that day on we started to live in his mansion. I taught him the fundamentals of being an Earl, and I learned from him what it means to be a butler in his household," a small smile curled his lips. "He said I am his sword and shield and that I would bring him victory. And I comply because I am certain his soul will be delicious."

She stared at him again. "Don't say such thing!"

"But you wanted to hear the truth and that is the truth. This is what I am doing as a demon. That was my only goal and then—then I opened the door nearly one year ago and—"

"And?"

"And I saw _you_," he stated and looked up. Their gazes met for a moment, his heart made another leap and all he wanted to do was pull her into his arms.

"And now you want _my_ soul instead of Ciel's?" she asked confused and earned a chuckle from him.

"Oh, no! How could you say such a thing? Annie, don't you understand? Since I met you I am acting foolish. I am acting—I am acting almost like a Human. Driven by a heart!"

"Demons have no hearts. That is what I have heard."

"And that's correct! But since I know you—"he carefully took her hand and placed it on his chest. Annie was silent, concentrating on the soft pumping beneath the palm of her hand. Her gaze drifted back into his eyes.

"A heart?" she breathed.

"This is _you_, Annie. A heart filled with everything I feel for you. Something I never heard a demon had done before. Can't you understand that it scares me? Do you understand why it scared me when you kissed me?"

"So—you pushed me away because—because you like me?"

"I don't know if 'like you' is the correct description, but yes—I pushed you away because everything in me wanted to hold you closer. I know that sounds odd, but I pushed you away to prevent a mess. A mess for me, but especially for you. I knew you would never be able to return these feelings to me once you're aware of my true identity."

"Do you really think I can switch my feelings off so easily?"

"You were disgusted—or maybe still are."

"Disgusted is a harsh word. I am not disgusted, I am just confused. I don't know who you really are. I mean—this butler appearance, this is not _you._"

"But it is what you created feelings for—"

"And that is why I am here. To find out if that is true."

He watched her confused. "I think I don't understand what you mean."

She got up and strolled towards the kitchen counter before she turned to look at him again. "Look—I know I have strong feelings for you. And yet—_this _is not _you! _I want to know if I just fell for your appearance or—or if I really fell for _you._ The demon."

He blinked at her. "Would that change anything?"

"Yes! It would change a lot, Sebastian. It would—it would prove if my feelings for you are genuine. I want to know if I can—if I can still love you with the knowledge of your true nature."

"Love me?" he breathed and saw her blush a bit. He got up and approached her slowly. "You mean—you mean you—"

She smiled shyly at him and nodded. "I think so, yes."

They stared at each other for a few seconds before she took his hands in hers. "Show me your true form, Sebastian. Just once—"

"It is too hideous—"

One hand reached for his cheek, gently stroked his soft skin. Unwittingly he leaned into the palm of her hand and closed his eyes.

"If you love me, Sebastian—show me who you really are."

Minutes passed by, minutes in which they stood silent in front of each other, her hand still stroking his cheek while his other hand entwined their fingers with each other.

"Annie—,"he breathed as he slowly leaned his forehead against hers, relieved that she didn't pull away. A single tear rolled down her cheek until he finally nodded and looked into her eyes.

"I will—"he said and saw the hint of a relieved smile on her lips before she wrapped her arms around his neck and embraced him tightly.

* * *

**A/N: Finally the chapter is done. Took a little longer than expected! Hope you enjoy it ^^**


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